Cruelly, madly, divinely
by LegacyOfAurora
Summary: When two shattered souls collide on a glacier of Greenland the outcome could be anything from a disaster to a complicated love affair. Emma, daughter of Wolverine, had had enough struggles with her own life. She'd never met her father. When she meets angry and lost God of Mischief, things gets a turn to worse, at first. A bit of angst with a twist of humor and finally romance.
1. Chapter 1

Summary: When Loki, in a heartbroken whim, chose to plunge down from the Rainbow Bridge, he ended up on Earth, finding himself from Greenland's glacier where his path crosses with Emma, a young woman with unwanted mutant powers. She is a daughter of Wolverine but have never met her real father. She had had enough struggles with her own life and meeting up with Loki isn't making anything easier. What begins as a reluctant companionship continues as a fast growing mutual affection as they try to avoid S.H.I.E.L.D and stay alive, fighting against some members of the yet unformed Avengers, while Loki still pursues to rule Earth one day and Emma trying to reason with him about that. If he was born to be a king, then Loki is damn right going to get himself a throne. But a little by little Loki begins to see that Emma is bringing some sun into his darkness. Just a bit of angst with a twist of humor.

From author: Hi there and welcome to my first fic in this fandom. I've been so excited with writing this story and I hope you like it. Loki is such interesting, complicated and charming character that I'm not sure if I had managed to do justice to him (I do wish so). Please, be warned that there are some coarse language in the story but nothing too bad. English isn't my native language and it might show from the text but please don't let it bother you too much. I appreciate your reviews.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything, just playing in the Marvel sandbox with the other kids. This is written just for fun.

... ...

**Prologue**

Far down below Odin, under the broken Rainbow Bridge, the Asgardian Sea surged and rumbled wildly. On the edge of their realm the forever streaming water poured down like in a huge waterfall. And there he stood, the all mighty ruler of the Nine Realms, feeling himself more powerless than ever, in grief-stricken silence, tears in his eye. The path his son had taken left Odin devastated. He took support from his golden spear, the Gungnir, gazing into the endless abyss of space where the last flashes of energy of the unstable wormhole were fading away.

The Allfather's arm was still reaching towards the bottomless abyss that had swallowed his son whole.

_"No Loki!"_

Those words to his boy had been gentle and harsh at the same time, disapproving his son's reckless actions. But never could he have thought that those would have been truly his last words to Loki. In a heartbroken whim, gazing abjectly up to Odin, Loki had released his grip from the spear and embraced the fate the cosmos held for him. And Odin had been forced to watch as his son had fallen without a sound, unable to stop him. Reaching his hand once more to his son, the Allfather had gathered all the dark energy he had managed, harnessing its powers for trying to guide Loki somewhere safe as a last gift to his wayward boy. Now Loki was gone, and he wasn't sure had he gotten to him in time.

_"__So... I am the monster who parents tell their children about at night..."_

_"__No, my son, you are not a monster. May you find peace or your way back home to us,"_ the Allfather whispered in a silent prayer. Then he turned his eye at his other son who sat on the edge of the broken bridge being anguished of his brother's fate.

Thor let out an agonized cry, blaming himself for what had happened to Loki. "Why?" he asked his voice shivering with grieve in such way Odin had never heard before.

Odin placed his hand on Thor's shoulder and closed his eye. "There is something I have to tell you about Loki," he said quietly. The pain struck him when he thought how he was supposed to break the news to Frigga.

... ...

**Chapter 1 First encounter**

Quite satisfied Emma Morgan finished her daily report, put down her headphones, and glanced at her co-worker Hans who sat next to her in front of a wall of several computer screens.

"Nothing in three hours. I think I'm done for today," Emma informed, stretching her back as she got up from her seat. It was late at the evening already. The local time on the computer screen showed 21:04.

Hans was still seemingly thrilled about their new big discovery; unexpected and unprecedented new voices from outer space and the massive energy discharges that had reached all the way to Earth somewhere in the middle of New Mexico. The mystic source of those voices and energy had remained unveiled, but they had witnessed several strong cosmic events in a few days through headphones and computers connected to a one of the world largest movable radio-telescopic. Totally unaware that those had been caused by Thor's short visit on Earth.

Indomitably Hans concentrated tapping his keyboard and nodded to Emma. "Yeah... You sleep well," he murmured trying still tracing the source of the latest voices. It had been over three hours ago, and nothing after that.

With a thermo-mug of hot chocolate, Emma stepped outside from their small research station's facilities, and faced the breezing coldness of the northern Greenland's frozen glacier. It was late summer just turning to autumn but it was always winter there, ice and show as long as she could see, and almost a mile thickness of solid ice under her feet. The closest neighbours were somewhere over 300 miles away but it was alright for Emma. She had felt herself perfectly comfortable there, being away from too many people. It had seemed to be the only place where the hardship of her past wasn't constantly haunting her. And the coldness hadn't really bothered her at all like it seemed to bother everyone else in her team. There were only five of them at the moment, Emma, Scott Davis a NASA guy and their boss, Catherine Lawson their medic from the States, Hans Jacobson a space geek from Denmark and Petteri Vuori a technical specialist from Finland who knew everything about the Northern Lights.

By a pure stroke of good fortune Emma had gotten a job in a project that worked under the NASA. She had been walking down a street in Houston finding her new flat when she was recruited by some NASA guys. Greatly hesitating she had accepted the deal that had sounded a bit too good to be true. She couldn't have believed that someone would actually pay her for sitting and listening voices from space and analysing data. It had been pretty boring until something big had happened within a week. After that she had been sitting tight, headphones on her ears, eyes on the screens and truly listen what the space had been trying to tell her. Their research unit was located as far away as possible from civilisation to avoid all interferences with human technology. Thanks to that they had no mobile phones, no microwave meals and no internet. Except two hours connection on internet via satellite on every Sunday to call home or whatever they wanted to do.

Emma pulled her pink camouflage trapper hat tighter onto her head and took a sip of steaming hot chocolate, lifting her eyes up at the dark sky. The sun hadn't set down in the whole summer and it had nearly gotten her mad. But now it was already dark enough to see the stars, and small waves of green northern lights were flaring against the blackness of the sky like magic itself. Emma had been waiting to see those the whole summer.

She moved further away from the facilities' outdoors' lights to see the Aurora Borealis better. That's when she heard someone moving closer on the crunching show and she turned at the sound that came behind a corner of their small outdoor warehouse.

"Who's there?" she asked, worried if it would be the polar bears she had been seeing nightmares about.

"Just me, don't shoot!" a young man's voice answered and he showed his face, stepping out from the shadows.

"Jesus, Peter! What are you doing sneaking here in the dark like that?"

"Sorry, I was taking a leak."

Emma rolled her eyes. "So, it is you who's been marking the territory. I thought we were having some crazy polar bear invasion! You do know we have decent toilets here?"

"Yeah, but I like to do it out here... being wild. There is only one rule my father though me: never piss against the wind!"

Emma shook her head amused and took another sip from her mug. Of all the people in their team, Petteri seemed to be the only one with a sense of humour. "That must be another of your folk wisdoms from Finland?"

"Yeah, we got plenty of those." Peter grinned, lighting up a cigarette.

The small flame of his lighter illuminated his face in the darkness. Emma really disapproved his one and only bad habit. "Those things are going to kill you."

"Maybe. And all that hot chocolate you're drinking is going to make your ass fat."

Emma burst out laughing to his abrupt statement. "True. You keep your bad habit and I'll keep mine."

"Deal," Peter smirked and changed the subject. "So, any new events?"

"None. Nothing after the big one."

"Damn." Pete glanced at the black sky. "You saw the Auroras? It just begun."

"Yeah, it's beautiful," Emma sighed and rose her gaze back up.

Pete went for his jacket's pocket and picked up a small bottle, a flask. "You want to celebrate the big events? I have some vodka," he said offering the bottle to her.

"No thanks. Alcohol and I... we are not a good match," Emma said a bit uneasily. She preferred her own hot sweet drink and took another sip, keeping her eyes at the starry sky.

The Aurora Borealis was always such a breathtaking wonder of the nature, especially there in Greenland. Emma didn't want to miss it.

The green flames of the sky began suddenly moving faster, waving and flickering and soon spinning around as if gathering clouds around them.

"Wh... what's going on?"

"I have no idea. I've never seen anything like this before," Pete gasped, mouth open. And he had seen a quite lot of Northern Lights in his life.

All of a sudden the dark sky seemed to open high above them with a strong distant whirling sound as if the lights of the stars would have cracked open and their lights would have created a whirling vortex with the green of the northern lights. And all of it came falling down towards them so fast that they didn't have a time to think. The tornado of colourful lights reached all the way down on Earth, hitting the icy ground against the bleak black horizon. And as soon as the strange phenomenon came, it was also over.

"Oh, did you see the same?" Emma gasped, ecstatic.

"No more than two miles away," Peter calculated.

They glanced at each other and without another word ran at a SnowCat and headed to the site of the event. There were no time to check it up from the computers; they had witnessed it with their own eyes. And they wanted to see more.

... ...

The violent journey across the space, through the collapsing wormhole, had caused Loki great suffering. He had been smashing against the smaller and larger pieces of the broken Rainbow Bridge that had accompanied him. He had been pulled in so many directions inside the unstable portal, that when it all finally had came to an end, hitting on to the cold ground, he stayed lying there, unmoving, every bone of his body aching, wishing he had died.

After a while he summoned all his energies he could to heal his worst injuries. Slowly he opened his tear-filled eyes, feeling like he was still falling into the endless abyss, wondering was he even alive anymore. As far as he knew, no-one would have ever survived what he had just faced. Was he in Hel? It certainly didn't feel like Valhalla.

His awareness of his surroundings grew little by little. It was dark, only the black starry sky above him. He sensed the coldness but it didn't bother him. After all there ran Jotun blood in his veins, as he had newly discovered his true origins. And it showed on him now, him possessing his jotun appearance. He had gone for extreme lengths only for trying to gain his father's love he had so badly craved for, to shown he was worthy to rule Asgard just as much as Thor was. Loki would have destroyed that whole race of monsters, the Jotuns, just to prove he wasn't one of those cursed creatures. _But what had he gained? Nothing._ Betrayed by those he had considered his friends and family, and cast out from the only place he has known as home, he was now completely alone and shattered. He thought his father must have been relieved to get rid off him. Odin hadn't shown any signs of grief when he'd let go of the spear. His thoughts haunted him. He was beaten as much physically as he was emotionally. Never in his unfair life had he felt so alone, abandoned and rejected before.

_"__Am I nothing more than another stole relic, locked away, here, until you might have some use for me?"_

That realm of cold and dark where Loki had been thrown into reminded him of the planet of the Frost Giants. It was only a natural assumption since the Bifrost had been open to Jotunheim before it was destroyed.

"Jotunheim, your son has returned!" Loki screamed at the night and remained lying on his back, letting out a mad, pained laugh. This wasn't the first time he was abandoned, suffering and left alone to die in this cold world. He was a true son of the Jotun king Laufey whose death had came at his hand. _Was this his true legacy?_ Now, the connection to Bifrost destroyed he would spend the rest of his miserable days in Jotunheim, or what was left of it.

His laugh died and turned into bitter tears. "Father, why did you forsake me?" he whispered giving a short thought for Odin. With all his mighty powers, the old king hadn't even lifted a finger to save him from the eternal abyss. Tears running down from his eyes, Loki laid his gaze up on the black sky where the green Northern Lights were fluttering brightly. _Green?_ He let out a confused breath. He'd never seen that kind of sky in Jotunheim. It was beautiful. It almost felt like he would have come home.

... ...

Thrilled Emma and Pete drove on the bleak black glacial plain at the sight of the incredible event. It was less than two miles away when the visibility got shrouded by a veil of thin mist and slowly falling snow. The SnowCat's headlights showed nothing through the mist in the darkness.

"We are close," Pete said shivering with excitement and the coldness. "I think we should have told to the others where we were going. Scott will go berserk. Come to think of it, this could be dangerous!"

Emma felt like she was reaching an end of a rainbow. It was too late to back down now. "Stop here, I'll go and see what's ahead," she said and jumped off from the vehicle with a flashlight.

"Emma, wait! The area may not be stable!" Pete shouted after her but she was already out of his sight. "Voi helvetti! Alright, I'll bring the gadgets then," he snorted.

Cautiously Emma moved through the mist that seemed to clear off, revealing a large round clear area in the middle of vaporizing air. The snow and ice had melted from that round area leaving about a foot and a half deep dry basin in the crusted snow. In that center the air felt warmer, drier and electrically charged. She definitely was walking on the site where the tornado from space had stroke. On the icy ground the first thing that caught up with her eyes was peculiar sparkling rocks, smaller and larger, like pieces of some kind of unseen meteorite, scattered inside the circle. There was also something else that reflected the flashlight's light brighter that the rocks. Emma stepped on the circle, listening her every step on the glacial ground, as she moved closer to that shining, pointy object. It appeared like it was metallic, golden, like it was crafted; it had two long bendy horns sticking up. Emma kneeled and gently picked it up. It was rather heavy and it looked like a helmet of some crazy, egoistic Viking.

Emma kept staring at the object in her hands, turning it around. "Is this a joke?" she whispered in disbelief as it truly resembled a helmet.

Cold chills went through her spine when she got a feeling that she wasn't there alone. That irrational sensation as if someone was walking on her grave filled her mind.

"Pete?" Emma cried out, glancing around her with her flashlight.

She heard Peter selecting equipments from the SnowCat and she carefully put the helmet down. She was about to run back at the vehicle when an invisible force grabbed a hold from her neck, lifting her foot above the ground. Terrified and hanging helplessly in the air, Emma saw a dark tall man emerging out of blue, his right hand on her throat. She was chocking in his grip, and trying to hold on to his forearm to pull herself up. His hand felt freezing cold around her neck, and in the headlights of the SnowCat his skin looked blue and his eyes all red. And in his left hand he had a dagger, pointing at her.

Loki's fear of imminent death turned into pure puzzlement as he pulled his prey closer, studying the female's face under her silly trapper hat in the darkness. "A mortal?" he took note, whispering, staring at the small woman in his grip. He had expected Jotuns and hid himself with a magical illusion, since he wasn't yet in a shape to put up a serious fight. His body was still weak and aching. The woman seemed harmless enough and he lowered her down back on her feet, on which she didn't remain long.

"Where am I?" Loki asked in a demanding voice, glaring around him in the cold darkness, conjuring his dagger away. "What realm is this?"

Emma fell on her knees, gasping for air, gazing at him in a fright, wanting nothing more but to cry after the shock and the crushing pain in her throat. "What...? This... Greenland..." she tried to form words with sore throat. "What. Are. You?"

It was just now when Loki noticed his skin color in the lights of the vehicle, staring at his hands. The coldness and the damage he had taken on his journey had taken its toll, revealing his birth appearance that even Odin's sorcery wasn't now concealing. _The cursed Frost Giant in him!_ With a little effort Loki changed back looking his normal Asgardian self.

Scared but compelled Emma watched his transformation, the blue fading away, the markings on his face disappearing like a wave of magic and the color of his eyes changing from whole red to more normal for a human. "Oh... my... god!" she sighed whispering, realizing that he must have came with the rest of the stuff in the circle from outer space. He must have or then he was a mutant like she was. She would have preferred the second choice better.

Hating that she had witnessed his true appearance, but a bit pleased that he had made an impression, Loki gave her a small smile and picked up his helmet from the ground with a tiny grunt of pain. "I am Loki of Asgard. The rightful king of my realm. The god of..."

"Wow, seriously! I'm not sure if we should even be here," Pete said, walking through the mist, carrying all sort of equipments and a cracking meter in his hand. "The Geiger meter shows some traces of gamma-radiation..." He came to a halt when he noticed Emma kneeling in front of some tall guy in an odd looking outfit like he'd have ran off from the World of Warcraft.

Loki glared at Pete, saw his equipments that looked like weapons pointing at him and throw his helmet at Pete, knocking him down with a mighty blow.

"Peter!" Emma shouted with hoarse voice, worried for her friend.

Loki turned again at Emma who was crawling away from him in the snow. "Stop, please! Tell me, this is not Jotunheim, is it?"

Cautiously Emma gazed at the man who had just declared himself as a king and a god of something. At least he knew the word 'please'. "No, this is not Norway. We are on Greenland... On Earth... The third planet from the sun..." she said for a clarification. Her throat was getting better, since she was a fast healer.

Loki frowned and stared at her speechless for a little while. "Midgard?" he said with a voice as silent as a whisper. He looked like he'd have gotten lost in his thoughts for a moment. He was trapped in Thor's precious Earth till the end of his days. _Was this a joke?_ Loki snorted, his lips curved into a smile and he let out a hysterical laugh like a mad man. If this was truly Earth he would destroy everything that mattered anything to Thor and wished that Heimdall would see it all and tell it to his 'oh so beloved brother', Thor. If Thor had thought that is was madness what Loki would have done to Jotunheim, he had seen nothing yet. He could do anything he pleased and Thor wouldn't be able to stop him. And he was going to make to most of it.

Emma wanted to run to see how bad it was with Pete, when Loki blocked her way and offered her his hand. Hesitating Emma took it, because she was too damn afraid not to. He pulled her on her feet, and took note she was nearly a head shorter than him. And still holding on her hand, he squinted at her with a sudden interest, devilishly smiling. "You are not Jane Foster, are you?"

Emma sensed the ominous threatening clouds hanging above that question. "I am not. My name is Emma. Morgan. Thank you."

"What a pity!"

Emma swallowed, trying to pull her hand free. "W-why?"

"Because I would have so wanted to split her skull," Loki said disappointed, letting her go. He walked passed her at the lights of the SnowCat. Yes, he would find that woman of Thor and kill her very slowly, so intimately, make her curse his brother's name and the day she had met him. Maybe he would even appear to her looking like Thor and violate her in every possible way. And call upon Heimdall to watch with his all seeing eyes so that the traitor guard keeper of the Bifrost could break the news to Thor. "Oh yes," Loki whispered, sated by his plan.

Emma exhaled very slowly, lucky she had not pretended to be someone else this time. _Poor Jane Foster! Whoever she was._

"Is that your vehicle? I want you to take me away from this barren wasteland!" Loki demanded making his way towards the SnowCat.

His last visit on Earth, meeting his brother, had been somewhere more warm and dry. Even in his exile Thor had of course had a privilege to been send somewhere nicer in all ways. _Always in his shadow_, Loki thought annoyed, glancing around him in the dark glacial wilderness. He gave a questioning look at Emma who stood where he had left her.

There were tons of questions Emma would have wanted to ask him, but thought it was wiser to keep quiet. He had nearly strangled her. "Alright," she promised and hurried after him, at first checking up Pete who lied on the snow. "Peter, are you hurt?"

Pete crawled up with difficulty, groaning. "Ah, mun vatsa..." he whimpered in his own language. "Mitä vitt-? Did he just throw that thing at me?" he stammered taking a look at the tall, dark stranger who picked up his horned helmet again and polished it on his sleeve, looking like he was eager to throw it once more. "Who's that guy?" Pete gasped.

"Don't ask!" Emma warned and helped Pete up. "We're going to give," she glanced at the god of mischief," Loki a lift to the coast."

"Wha...? Are you out of your mind? No way! There are over 300 miles to the nearest..." Peter yelped, rubbing his sore abdomen and arm.

"I know!" Emma raised her voice too. It was pure madness. "I know."

Loki stared at the two ominously, waiting next to the vehicle. "Is there a problem?"

Emma: "No!"

Peter: "Well yeah! Who the hell do you think you are? You broke all our stuff. You almost killed me!"

"I am a god, you dull minded mortal!" Loki strode closer to Pete summoning a dagger in his palm. "And maybe I should try harder."

"No! Wait! Please, don't!" Emma cried out placing herself in the between of the men. "What if we all just get in the truck, and we'll take you where ever you wanted to go? Just don't hurt us. What do you think? Do we have a deal?"

"Wow, alright. Fine by me," Pete swallowed, staring at the scary man with a dagger.

Loki gave them a sated smile, standing tall and imposing in the darkness. "Now, that sounds like a bargain."

Soon they all three sat in the snow vehicle, heading back at the research center, Loki on the backseat nearly hunching over Emma's and Peter's shoulders since he was so tall.

Emma was driving, trying to figure out how to come out of this alive, a very dangerous creature breathing on her neck. _What the hell was he?_ Had been invisible and blue and then pulling out his weapon out of nowhere. _He had to be a freaking alien and came with that energy discharge._

Peter was a nervous wreck. He took a sip from his vodka flask, and glanced over his shoulder at Loki. "So, Loki was it? Like the trickster god of the ancient Vikings?"

"Precisely," Loki smirked. Someone at least remembered him. "I am burdened with a glorious purpose. I have returned to Earth to pass down a divine judgment on humanity."

"Sure thing. That's great!" Pete nodded. "You've...? You've met any hot valkyries lately?"

Emma rolled her eyes. _So typical Pete! He was getting himself killed!_

Loki snorted. "They all faced gruesome death over millennia ago."

Pete looked shocked. "No way! Not the valkyries!"

... ...

The lights of the research unit shone ahead and Emma let out a sigh. It was far from over, but she wished that she could leave Pete off. "Okay, we're almost there. I'll fetch some supplies. Peter you'll prepare the helicopter. And you. Please, just stay put," Emma glanced at Loki over her shoulder. The self-declared god creature leaned back in his seat, looking agonized and breathing lightly. "Do you need help? Are you hurt?" The concerned questions had left her mouth before she had time to think why she would care.

Loki glowered at her under his dark brows. Her concern was almost touching, if he would have cared at all. "Not for much longer," Loki said and closed his eyes, concentrating his energies to heal himself once more. It seemed he had a moment to rest, that was all he needed for now.

Emma and Peter stared at the Viking god falling into a short state of meditation, and then they glanced at each other, unsure what were they dealing with, only realizing that they shouldn't have gone at the event site alone. They had brought back something that didn't belong in this world.

There were three other people at their facilities and Emma didn't want to get any of them in trouble with Loki. It was too late. Just as they arrived, Scott Davis the older NASA guy and their boss rushed meeting them outside, looking angry.

"Where the hell have you two been? Have you any idea what's going on here?" Scott Davis started as soon as Emma and Pete jumped down from the SnowCat. "A massive energy discharge hit on earth...?"

"Yeah, I know. Two miles to north from here," Emma continued. "We checked the sight..."

"You did what? Without my orders?" Scott grunted and took a breath to continue. "Hans is deaf! He was listening to the sound waves when the discharge came and the intensity of it broke his eardrums."

"Oh no! Is he alright?"

"He's ears were bleeding. Doc Catherine said he needs a proper check up in a hospital. So, she took the copter and they headed to the Dundas. I contacted the headquarter. They'll send a group to investigate the event site. Bloody hell! Tell me, you didn't touch anything there!"

"Yeah, about that," Pete grimaced, holding the broken equipments and glanced at the Viking god who stepped out too.

So the helicopter was gone, Emma thought upset taking a quick look over her shoulder at Loki. _Oh shit! There was only one other choice._ "I need to borrow the SnowCat for a couple of days," Emma stated just as to let Scott know.

"What? Absolutely not! And who's this clown? You know we are not taking visitors." Scott grunted glaring at the unexpected guest in odd clothes like it would have been a mix up of an ancient warlord and that guy from the Matrix-movies. Thanks to their distant location the facilities wasn't really a tourist attraction and they never had any unexpected guests knocking on their door.

"It's alright, I'll give him a lift to the coast and then I'll be back."

"Are you suicidal, Morgan? That is not going to happen. Where the hell did he come from?"

Loki didn't appreciate that tone. With only one step he moved at Scott Davis and lifted him up from his throat. "Never dare to cross me or you will meet your demise!" he warned and threw the man against the wall of their facilities.

Emma grimaced and turned at the stranger horrid. "You can't keep hurting people!"

Loki didn't mind of creating chaos around him. Nothing mattered anymore. He was done playing nicely. "Why not?" He grabbed from her arm like telling her to know her place. "Emma Morgan, you are beginning to sound like my idiotic brother. I do not appreciate that. You will obey me and do as I say. Now go and gather what you need so we can leave!" he said, letting her go.

When Emma noticed that Peter went helping Scott, she hurried inside doing what she was told, packing up supplies for two days journey over the great icy plain. It was one thing to fly over the glacier that took a few hours, than drive through it with a SnowCat that would easily take days with luck. Without luck she would die with him falling into a crevasse, a deep crack in the glacier. She packed up her bag, throwing stuff in it without thinking much. Warm, lots of warm stuff and food, and hot drink in to a thermos bottle.

Like an old boxer Scott Davis climbed back on his feet shaking his head, gazing confused at the tall, inhumanly strong stranger who had given him the rough handling. He smelled serious trouble here. "Where did you find this guy?" Scott asked panting from Pete.

"He said his is a god, not the God, obviously, but a god..." Pete stammered, knowing it sounded crazy he continued: "I think he's an E.T. He came within the energy discharge."

Loki glared at the two men with a subtle smile. "Stay!" he advised in a dark voice lifting his finger at the two like training dogs. Then he followed Emma inside, making sure she would do her part of the deal.

"Shit!" Scott growled and turned at Pete. "Follow me!" he said and rushed limping at one of the small out warehouses.

"What are we doing here?"

Scott went through a pile of wooden boxes and picked up one labeled "NASA research equipments #4". He wringed it open fast with a crowbar, cursing while doing it. "Shit! I didn't ask for this! Only two years for retirement..." he murmured and took a satellite phone from the box and handed it to Pete. "Turn this on and dial 1!"

"Ok?" Pete did as he was asked, confused. Even more confused as he saw Scott picking up two pistols from the box and adding magazines in them like a professional hitman. "Why do I get a feeling that this is not a normal NASA procedure?"

Scott Davis glanced at Pete and exchanged the satellite phone to a gun. "Have you ever fired a gun?" Peter shook his head, speechless, holding the gun with shaking hands. "All you have to do is aim and squeeze the trigger." Scott lifted the phone to his ear and after one dial tone someone answered. "This is agent Davis. We have an S.H.I.E.L.D code 10-33 in our current coordinates. Requesting immediate backup!" he said and then gave short detailed information about their situation.

Pete swallowed, he could have used for another drink. "Agent Davis, huh? When is the cavalry going to arrive?"

"I'm afraid, not any time soon."

On her way out, Emma made a stop in the working quarters by pure interest checking up the data from the computers. She noticed Hans's headphones on the floor and some blood stains on the table. _Jeez! Poor Hans!_ She felt bad for him. It must have been awful. It occurred to her that she too could have been there her ears deaf if she would have stayed longer in work. Then again that would have been a better option than taking a mad Viking god to the coast.

Emma stared at the computer screens. The calculations showed a massive energy discharge. The similar that had occurred already 6 times in the few passing days over New Mexico. But the computer model did show that the latest one had been somehow unstable. Emma kept gazing at the screens, a scary thought creeping into her mind. _An invasion?_ Loki might have not been the only one who had came on Earth. "My god," she whispered.

"Yes?" Loki said stepping behind her as if he had been summoned. "Are you ready?"

Loki's voice startled Emma. She hadn't seen him sneaking upon her and she stared at him in a fright moving back. "Um, you wouldn't want a cup of coffee or something at first?"

Loki glanced at the room around him, amused by the mortals' primitive technology. Then he laid his eyes down on her. "No, thank you."

Emma didn't dare to look straight into his eyes. He seemed to be fine now but he had looked suffering in the truck. "We do have a small sickbay if you need treatment…"

"I am fine, but that is not what you will be if you are even thinking of stalling. So, are you ready to go?"

"No, but let's get going."

Emma wasn't eager to take this suicide road trip with him, but thought that the sooner she get him away from there no-one else would get hurt. She had no time to worry about herself. She had brought him there and she was going to get him out.

Loki gave her a small smile and let her lead the way. He loved this feeling; having the ultimate power over these humans. They were no match for him and he hadn't even put in an effort yet. And the woman was going to give him all the information he would need to take over the whole realm. Either she wanted it or not. He had many ways to persuade.

Like a devil on her tail Emma went to the SnowCat and threw her bag on the backseat. Loki followed her, his long cape fluttering slowly in the wind. It was four hours till dawn. The dark glacier of northern Greenland around them as silent as always.

"Emma, step away from him!" ordering voice of Scott carried from further behind her. She turned at the voice, so did Loki, fast and curiously.

Scott Davis walked towards them into the facilities outer lights, his pistol pointing at them, aiming at Loki more precisely. Behind him came Pete with not so steady aiming.

"Wha... What are you doing?" Emma shouted at them nearly in panic. She wasn't sure which one shocked her more; a nice, nerd NASA guy with a gun or him being stupidly suicidal. _Where the hell had he even gotten a gun?_ "Don't be stupid! Let me take him away from here!"

"I can't let you do that. You are not authorized to leave the facilities, Morgan," Scott announced, approaching them like a trained cop. "I am an S.H.I.E.L.D agent and I have my orders to restrain you, sir, with force if I have to. Put your hands up and stand down!"

Loki couldn't take a threat like that seriously. He answered it with a broad smile on his face, standing tall with dignity as a true king would have. "You humiliate yourself by threatening me with you petty weapons. Just for a theoretically question; what would you do if I do not cooperate?"

"I will shoot you down, sir. Keep your hands where I can see them!" Scott repeated his order, his gun pointing at Loki, his finger on the trigger.

"Scott, don't!" Emma warned him.

"Oh, I would like to see you try," Loki stated calmly, moving towards his threatener. He summoned his dagger and it appeared into his palm with a magical wave gleaming in the dark.

Seeing the knife emerging out of nowhere, Scott pulled the trigger and shot at the hostile strange five times. The sounds of the gunfire rang in Emma's ears. She hadn't expected it to be so loud. It looked like Loki got the shots, Scott had hit him on the chest, but then the apparition of him vanished like a ghost only to emerge again in front of Scott and wrenched from Scott's wrist.

Another gun shot echoed in the air, and the agent grunted in pain as his arm was locked. With pure evil in his green eyes, Loki thrust his dagger into his adversary's side, breathing in the fear and pain he'd caused to his victim who had so stupidly dared to cross him.

"I told you not to cross me," Loki whispered roughly at the agent and pushed him off from his knife. Scott fell on the ground aching and Loki picked up the gun from his hand before he fell.

Pete stared at Loki horrid and dropped his weapon voluntarily, kneeling down to help Scott. The gaze of the cruel Viking god was cold as ice as he beheld the men. "Was that all of your resistance?" he asked sounding disappointed. "If that is so, soon you all will kneel before me."

The god of mischief spun on his heels and returned to Emma who stood on her place looking pale and shocked next to the snow vehicle. "Now we can go," Loki announced, but then gazed at her from head to toes, frowning, seeing her helpless expression. "Now, what is wrong with you?"

Emma had seen what he did to Scott Davis and she had wanted to scream him to stop, but she couldn't get a word out of her mouth, she hardly was able to breath. She had felt the hit, like a hot flash had gone through her. Then slowly came the pain like dozens of small claws had been tearing her insides apart. She felt her shirt getting wet and she touched her abdomen. The jacket she was wearing felt wet outside. There was a small hole next to the zipper. Emma looked down at her blood-stained palm. The last gunshot, she knew now where it had hit.

Loki stared at the woman confused and then rolled his eyes after figuring out what had happened to her. "Oh, you have got to be kidding me!" he cried out with an annoyed tone, taking a few nervous steps back and forth. _This day was just getting better and better!_

Emma didn't pay much of attention to him when she fell on her knees, gasping for air. She glanced at Pete and Scott before she slumped on the snow on her back, the pain increasing in her. It was not the way she had thought this would end. She didn't want to die in this place, not like this. She felt so cold. She had never ever felt the cold like that before, but now her body was trembling all over with it. She felt like she was sinking inside the ice and snow, gazing up at the fading Northern Lights that were fluttering up green like Loki's cape as he walked passed her. She heard Peter's voice calling for her before the world turned dark in her eyes.

In silence Loki gazed down at the woman who had fallen on his feet. The mortals' corporeal shells were so fragile he could have crushed them with his bare hands. She had died in vain. He couldn't say that it would have moved him much, but there was something wrong about it. He couldn't quite put his finger on it. He had not decided that she should have died, not yet anyway. For some odd reason she had shown concern of his well-being, and he wasn't happy about the way the favor had been returned to her.

Loki hardened his heart. He had faced enough troubles with his own life already. He was annoyed and angry as he turned back at the agent and the funny man, walking to them slowly.

"Needless to say but that was such a futile waste of a good life," Loki stated scolding at Scott who lied on his back still conscious, Peter trying to stop his bleeding. "Look what you have done! She was willing to take me away from here." He snorted shaking his head, a cruel smile rising on his lips, his intimidatingly tall figure casting a long shadow over Peter and Scott. "There is only one possible outcome for you now."

Pete glanced at Emma, tears falling on his cheeks, hopelessly trying to help Scott. He wanted to run to her, check up on her. "Please, don't hurt us! Let me help him. I'll help him and her and then I'll take you where ever you want to go."

"I have all the time in the world, but I would like to go now. Do not worry. I would not leave a dying man alone here in this coldness. I am not a monster," Loki said coldly turning the pistol in his hand like studying the primitive weapon. "So you just aim and pull the trigger?" he asked pointing the gun at Scott's head.

"Look, please, don't..."

Before he got to the point of pulling the trigger, Loki thought he heard something behind him and glanced over his shoulder. He saw the young woman moving on the ground.

Just as if she would have been rebooted, Emma gasped for air with full lungs. The coldness hadn't left her and some of the pain was still there but she was able to push herself up on her feet. Shivering from head to toes she stood again, gazing at the men like a frozen zombie.

"Hey, you alien freak! Are we going or not?" she rasped with a hoarse voice and jerked the SnowCat's door open, hoping to attract his full attention with her provocation. "I swear, if you pull that trigger, I'm going to kill you myself!" she informed grimly at Loki and climbed in the truck starting the engine that roared like an angry bear.

Loki huffed at her disrespectful attitude towards him but he was also slightly astonished. He wasn't sure what had happened to her, but he found her recovering arousing his curiosity. "You will not believe the day I had already. And I have to put up with that now?" he said, giving the men a questioning look before leaving them. Peter looked as much puzzled by Emma's miracle recovery and tried to call for her, but she wasn't listening.

Loki hopped on the front seat next to Emma, giving her a long curious stare, pondering what manner of creature she was. The Snow vehicle was already moving right after he had pulled the door close. Emma didn't look at him; she kept her eyes on the unseen road ahead, leaving behind the research unit and her friends, hoping that they would survive until the NASA's copter would arrive. She needed to put miles between them. Nothing else mattered. She just drove, in silence, shivering in awful coldness that she felt inside.


	2. 2 All gods-forsaken place

A mobile phone ran somewhere on the floor and agent Phil Coulson awoke from a strange bed between satin sheets and dived after the ringing voice, still sleepy, his head feeling dizzy. In a dim lighting he found his phone from the pocket of his jacket. "Coulson," he answered with a raspy voice and cleared his throat. The traces of his tiredness wore off as he listened to the caller's case. "Yes. I understand. Yes. Right away. Thank you," agent Coulson ended the call and felt a rush of adrenaline kicking in.

_Not again! _They hadn't even gotten over with the first one. _This was another serious case_, he thought and went for the light of the bedside table. He took a careful glance around him in a luxurious penthouse apartment, picking up his clothes from the floor where also lingered a red woman's cocktail-dress, golden high heel shoes and other girly stuff that didn't belong to him.

Manhattan peeked behind the half-closed window curtains. There was someone in the bed sleeping, and Coulson noticed long wavy ginger-red hairs on the pillow. He grimaced. _Oh no, not the red-head_, he thought and pulled up his pants, trying his best to recall the last night's events. _Note to myself; never let Tony Stark mix your drinks again._

He left a short thank you note on the pillow next to the woman in bed and sneaked out from the apartment in a stealth mode. In a slightly moral hangover and a real one, he craved for a large cup of coffee. Not that decaffeinated crap. He wanted the real stuff.

Right after getting into the elevator he speed dialed again. The phone rang a few times and then Fury's voice answered. "Talk to me, Coulson."

"It seems we have a situation in Greenland. A field agent informed of a great energy discharge, similar as we saw in Thor's case. It was spotted also by our meters as well as NASA's. Apparently we have a new visitor. It's not him though. This one sounds dangerous."

"Yes, I just heard about it from Hill. There is one of our teams heading there as we speak. I thought it was over with Thor getting back home." Fury was silent a moment. "Casualities? Witnesses?"

"An agent wounded. A couple of witnesses at the moment. And the one who seems to be aiding the visitor has been on our follow-up list, the one of our candidates; the mutant."

"Alright. I'll send two more teams to back up. One to pick them up and the other to clean up the mess. You go to the second one. I'll tell them to pick you up from New York."

"Yes, Sir."

"Oh, and Coulson. How was Stark's party?"

Agent Coulson stared at the degreasing numbers of the elevator, the content of his stomach rising up in the same speed. "Um... it was unforgettable."

**... …**

The headlights of the orange SnowCat cut through the snowy darkness as the tracked snow vehicle hummed slowly over the icy plain. The speed wasn't breathtaking, way under 20 miles per hour on maximum, but at least they were getting somewhere. Watching out into the dark scenery, Loki sat in grim silence, his right elbow leaning against the door, stroking his lips, being fully immerged deep into his bleak thoughts.

_"I could have done it, father! I could have done it. For you, for all of us!" _

_ "No Loki!"_

He felt a stab in his heart, hearing Odin's words with that disdaining voice, rejecting him and his efforts to secure Asgard's permanent peace from the threat of the Jotuns. He had embraced death but even the death itself had rejected him, casting him into Midgard instead. He felt so mixed up, disturbing feelings storming inside of him from sadness to hatred, from guilt to being betrayed, leaving him broken and wounded. In all his life he had wanted nothing more than to be seen and loved in the way he was, but the Asgardians had never looked at him the same way they looked at Thor even his brother was an arrogant hothead without manners. A small moment he had been a rightful king of Asgard and yet he had been looked down and betrayed by those who should have been the most loyal to their king. And he was a Frost Giant, a cursed monster who everyone hated. With all that circling in his mind, he feared he was going completely insane. He desperately needed other things to fill his head with. So, he turned his eyes at the equally quiet woman next to him.

The needle of the compass pointed at west. Emma kept her eyes straight forward as if trying to ignore the mad demigod by her side. She hadn't even noticed that the pain in her body had left her, and warmth filled her insides again. Unsure was she even alive she breathed in slowly.

They had driven in silence, Emma not saying a word ever since she sat behind the steering wheel. The humming sound of the engine had been the only sound filling in the space of the truck's cabin. Curiously Loki kept staring at her, putting aside his own misfortunes. He was good concealing his feelings from others. He had always been. As he recalled the young woman had threatened to kill him, and he was looking forward for her to try it.

"So, why would you not tell me what you are?" he asked once more, ending the silence. It was going to be an awfully long journey if he had to do all the talking. And he hated small talk. "I mistaken you for a mortal but clearly you are something... quite different."

Emma still said nothing. Tears were burning her eyes and the smell of her own blood made her feeling sick. She couldn't forget the expressions of her co-workers when she had risen back on her feet after been shot. She couldn't forget the image of Loki stapping Scott. She was filled with worry would he survive. _Had it even been the right thing to leave?_ No. She should had stayed and do all there was to be done for Scott. The shock had turned off her rational thinking and made her to run. That was what she was good at, and this wasn't the first time she was running away from her troubles. Emma just wanted to scream the pain away. She stopped the truck and pulled on the hand break.

"Why are we stopping?" Loki inquired, watching at the woman who jumped out from the vehicle and walked into the outer range of the lights. He followed her out and circled the van in a huff, annoyed of her silent treatment. He was not going to be ignored by some mortal. "If you think you can leave me here in the middle of this all-gods-forsaken place..." he shouted after her.

Her back towards him, Emma let out a pained scream like a banshee and threw off her quilted jacket. She peeled off the bloody layers of her shirts as if her clothes had been on fire until she wore only bras on her upper body, not giving at damn if he'd see her. She dropped on her knees and begun to scrub the blood off from her skin with the snow like she'd been possessed.

A bit taken aback of her behavior, Loki watched her from the distant, intrigued, noticing that there was blood on the front as well as the back side of her slender torso but no visible damages to been seen. By his basic knowledge of humans, they didn't heal that fast. His gaze lingered on her for a moment longer with another kind of growing interest as well. He could have ravished her. She was practically asking for it. It would have simply been a small compensation for all the torment he had faced. But for the first time, he gave her some privacy and returned to the truck, waiting. After all, his mother had taught him better than that. Loki frowned for that thought. _What had brought Frigga, his adopted mother, into his mind at the moment like this?_

The snow didn't feel cold as Emma washed off the blood with it. The blood was her own but it felt like there was Scott's blood on her hands too since she had brought Loki to the research unit. What happened to Scott was partly her fault. _A SHIELD agent? What the hell did that mean? Wasn't he with the NASA? Why hadn't he told that before?_

Emma stopped scrubbing and touched her stomach and her back. There where an hour ago had been a gaping gunshot wound she couldn't now even feel a scar. _What are you?_ Loki's question echoed in her mind. She wasn't sure about that anymore. She knew her body had always been able to adapt to extreme environments and her small wounds had healed fast, but never had she believed she would survive something like this. _It was beyond her limits, wasn't it?_

Emma glanced at the truck where the demigod sat frighteningly calm. She didn't want to go back there but she really didn't have any other choice. Picking up the remaining of her pride she strode at the SnowCat and put on her extra tank top and sweater from her bag from the backseat. She noticed the god creature glancing at her half naked frame over the seats, with nearly a shy expression on his face. Dressed up again she sat behind the steering wheel still without a word, wrapping a blanket around her.

_The ailings of women!_ Loki thought, not really having an understanding for them. She was alive. He had just been through a lot worse and couldn't understand what she was mewling about. He's the one who should have been screaming out. He had liked what he had seen, though. Her pretty little body had appealed to his eye. The Asgardian women would have never exposed themselves so boldly. Being now more decent in her clothes, Loki dared to give her a longer, studying glance. "Feeling better? Or would you need a shoulder to cry on?" he asked caustically.

Still furious and without thinking of the consequences, Emma gave him a sharp slap on the face. It must have stung more of her palm than his face. She should have punched him instead. "That was for Scott! And, yeah. It does actually feel better!"

It was too dim for her to see the gleam in his eyes when Loki shot a flared up look at her and slid over the seat close to her. His hand rose up on her throat, not squeezing but to hold her. Loki saw her perfectly even in the dark. Without her silly hat, her long hair hung free over her shoulders. Her lips were smooth, her blue eyes big by fear and the scent of her skin inviting as the blooming gardens of Asgard. For a mortal, he found her attractive enough to touch her and let his hand dwell on her bare slender neck for a moment, wondering how she'd managed to pull through alive from his choking grip when they've met. It must have been the same reason she'd healed so fast from the gunshot wound.

_So, she's got more spirit that he would have guessed._ Loki breathed out aloud, a smile creeping on his parted lips. "I took you more of a lamb. I do like some fire, but do not ever do that again," he said with a dark voice. Slowly he let her go, honoring his side of the bargain; not harming her if she would take him wherever he wanted to go. It had only been a warning.

When he let her go Emma hit on the gas and the truck was in motion again, continuing the course. She exhaled her frustrated emotions. He wasn't going to get easy on her. Her own outburst wasn't helping either. She had expected him to hurt her, but his touch had been gentler this time. His breathe on her skin hot and fierce and left her shivering, but at least he hadn't harmed her. She needed to gather herself for a moment, forcing herself to speak. She might have as well tried to get inside his head. "Why did you harm him? Why did you stab Scott?"

"Do not tell me you weep for a man who shot you. That is pathetic!"

"Whose fault was that?" Emma squeezed the steering wheel, her knuckles white. "You could have disarmed him without hurting him. I saw you vanishing and reappearing, pulling your weapons out from nowhere. How do you do that?"

"Basic illusions and sorcery that I learned as early as I was a child," Loki said carelessly, giving a short thought for his mother who had taught him all he knew about Asgardian sorcery. He was probably never going to see her again. The thought of it made him sad.

Emma took a risk and shot another question at him. "And your brother? Is he like you too? A... god of... whatever?"

Loki glared at her angrily. "What? Where did you bring him into this conversation?"

"Earlier, you said I sounded like your brother. I take it you don't like him?"

Loki snorted, rolling his eyes. "I am not overly fond of him." No! He wished that Thor would have died when he sent the Destroyer after his brother. He would have still been sitting on his throne if Thor wouldn't have come to meddling with his plans. "He is a traitor and a coward. Do not ever dare to mention him again."

_A sore spot? So he had one_, Emma thought. To keep her insanity in this madness, maybe she should have used Peter's idiotic approach to things. "So, this Asscourt? What is it? Your heavenly kingdom? You own private nook of space?" Emma asked keeping up casual tone, her eyes at the snowy road, afraid as hell for what might follow.

"Asgard!" Loki cleared it annoyed. "The realm of Eternal lies in so far 'in _space'_ that your great seeing glasses are not able to find it."

"Then, what's the purpose of your trip here? Business or pleasure?" Emma nearly gasped after blurting something like that out of her mouth. _What was she thinking? A crazy idiot! Don't courage him with some poor choice of words!_

Loki couldn't hide his grin. "Pleasure. Most certainly," he stated with a voice giving her chills, leaning closer to her. She was nervous, he sensed it. And her fear strangely excited him. "Aren't we awful chatty all of a sudden? Good. Since we are talking again, I was wondering," he said summoning his dagger in his hand, making sure she would see it, "if I would stab you, would you recover from it? And if so, how many times do you think we could repeat it without either one of us getting too tired?"

Emma couldn't ignore the knife she saw in the corner of her eye or that deranged question. He had stabbed Scott with that same dagger. _So, he was a psycho, mad alien._ "I don't know! I rather wouldn't put it to a test," she whispered, her voice beginning to quiver. "You know, you're..."

"You think I am mad, don't you?" Loki asked, actually sounding like mad.

"I wouldn't say that. Maybe, you're just short of a few marbles, that's all."

Loki frowned, uncomprehending the metaphor. "What is that suppose to mean?"

"Nothing. But that bullet wound... By all reasons I shouldn't have been able to pull through it." Emma glanced at Loki's dark figure, his gleaming dagger, and him again. "Why you keep intimidating me? You've already made your point."

Loki laughed a little, an uneasy laugh. "Have I? You haven't yet answered my question."

"You want to know what I am? Fine. I'm a human, only evolved. Those who consider themselves normals calls my kinds", Emma hated the word, "mutants. We've developed abilities that the normals don't posses. I know that I could survive here in the freezing coldness a few days without single frostbite or dive without holding my breath. But I never knew that my body could actually recover from a gunshot like that. It doesn't make sense."

Loki listened to her, interested, putting down his weapon and conjuring it away. "So, there are others like you? Why do you make it all sound like it is a misfortune?"

It was Emma's time to snort. "Do you have any idea what it feels like to be afraid of what you are?" Emma asked turning her gaze at Loki. "To be something too different? To be afraid that you are turning into a monster?"

Loki knew that feeling all too well. He had always felt himself different, an outsider, living in the shadow of his brother his whole life, until he'd discovered the reason why; that he was born as a Frost Giant. His dreams crushed by that knowledge and not so long ago.

"You would be surprised," he said it aloud, unintended, in a voice that made him sound humane after all his threatening. They stared at each other for a few seconds in the dim truck. Loki mentally kicked himself for opening his mouth, and Emma confused trying to understand what he had just meant by it. "Continue!" said Loki then, shaking off his personal feelings.

Emma hadn't talked about this with anyone. He was literally forcing her to talk. Hesitating she continued, staring far ahead through the windshield while driving. "I never wanted this. I was born with it. They called it a gene-X, or something like that. My DNA is fucked up because of it. I would gladly be normal, not needing to hide what I am. My mother would have liked that too. I was sixteen when my, um... abilities came out into the open. We were on our holiday trip in California, a day on the beach, some sun, swimming in the sea. I loved to swim. It was fun, until I went too far and was caught by the current. I sank under the surface, unable to get back up, and thought that I was going to drown. But I didn't. I thought I had become a mermaid." Emma let out a tiny pained chuckle. "It was so peaceful down there, under the surface. I wouldn't have wanted to go back up. When they finally pulled me up they said that I had been drifting in the water for two hours. The divers had been sure I was dead. And they freaked out when they saw me living." Emma swallowed. It was a painful memory she would have gladly forgotten. "I can't forget the expression on my mother's face when she first saw me. At first she looked so relieved that I was alright. And then when she noticed that I had developed gills..."

Loki lifted an eye brow, staring at her. "You have gills?" he asked a bit disgusted.

Emma shook her head. "Only when I dive. They vanished as soon as my lungs adapted to breathe air again, but my mother never looked at me the same way. From that moment I was a freak, and she sent me to be tested. Some men came into our home to take me away. I believed that it would have been just a normal hospital, but..." Emma stopped. She didn't want to take a trip down on that unpleasant memory lane of hell. Her voice turned to emotionless when she continued: "Let's just say, it wasn't a good place. So, when I finally got a chance, I ran from there. And I've been running ever since."

Loki felt surprised that he had actually bothered listening to her sentimental whining. At least she had not been lied her whole life like he'd been. "You are much more than the others and yet you buried yourself from the world? In here?" Loki asked, upset, staring outside into the cold darkness that surrounded them. _It would have been more pleasant to go hiding in Jotunheim than here_.

"I don't know how things are where you're from, but here being too different isn't so desirable. People, the normal ones, believes that my kinds are a plague they need to get a rid off. They fears what they don't understand, and begins to hate what they fear. The outcome isn't that pretty." She gave another glance at him like telling that the same thing goes with him.

"Why will you not hate them back?"

"What good would it do? Get myself killed? Look, whatever you intentions might be, don't expect the world to welcome you with open arms."

Loki smiled revealing his perfect teeth. "No. I expect them to kneel before me. I have come from too far for anything else."


	3. 3 A cup of comfort

The day had dawned hours ago. Petteri Vuori stood in silence outside the research unit, shivering with coldness, snow and wind gusting against his face, a cigarette between his lips and the dried blood of his boss still on his clothes. He took off his hat and tossed the remains of his cigarette into the snow when two men passed him carrying stretcher with a filled body bag. Peter followed it with his sorrowful gaze as the men lifted it into an odd looking army aircraft. Pete just stood there in the snowy weather, trying to figure out the mess around him. Scott Davis had died a few hours ago before the first aircraft had landed in front of their facilities. Men looking like feds had jumped off from the jet, asking strange questions and taking over the research unit and all of the data Peter and his fellow workers had been working with.

Soon after that, two more aircrafts had arrived bringing more army-looking fellows. Pete knew only one thing that they definitely weren't from the NASA. The one who seemed to be in charge had been on his satellite phone from the moment they had arrived. The strange looking group hadn't just taken Peter's and his co-workers data, they were taking down the whole research unit, disassembling also the massive radio telescope like they would have owned it.

Peter lit his fourth cigarette and took a long inhale, his hands shaking. He was sure to see nightmares of this for the rest of his life. He couldn't be more worried for Emma's sake.

"I'm sure you did all you could, Mr. Vuori," agent Coulson said, stepping next to Peter, gazing at the aircraft where the men carried one of his old colleagues.

"I don't know about that," Peter shuddered, unable to forget his useless efforts to help Scott. "I could have tried to take that shot at that Loki guy. Now that _thing_ is somewhere out there with Emma."

The gust of wind and the snow made Coulson pull his hood tighter around his head. "How well you know Emma Morgan?"

"We've been working together for four and a half months. The co-workers are all we see here really."

"Did you notice anything strange about her after you found this Loki?"

"Other than that she took a bullet and walked away?"

"What do you mean by that?"

"Scott accidentally shot at her. That's her blood over there," Pete said pointing at a nearly snow covered red smudge on the icy ground. "She fell, and I thought she died, but then she just got up like nothing would have happened and left with Loki."

Coulson stopped one of his fellow agents and asked the man taking full test from the blood on the ground. Then he turned back at Peter. "You didn't mention this before? Why?"

"I don't want any troubles for her. She is like the nicest person I know. And this is getting too X-files stuff for me."

"You can trust us. We are here to help."

"What's that organization you said you're from again?"

"The Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division. You can call it S.H.I.E.L.D. It's simpler," agent Coulson said and waved his hand at one of the stern men who came to them. "Barton, take two teams and go after them. This Loki is dangerous so proceed with caution. I know your eyes are sharp but you might not trust them this time."

"Yes, sir," Barton, the Hawkeye, said. "Are we expecting Thor to show up?"

Pete overheard their short conversation and snorted. "What? Is this a freaking candid camera? Is Odin gonna come too? I know the Valkyries won't, because they all are apparently dead. So, don't get yourselves killed in a battle. There's no Valhalla waiting!"

Coulson and Barton exchanged looks and then Barton left to the Quinjet. The wind was still rising, blowing snow from west and reaching soon to tempestuous measures. They had to raise the volume of their voices.

Phil Coulson frowned and turned at Peter again. "Are you drunk, sir? Or under influence of any kind of drugs?"

"I wish!" Pete said and spit snow out of his mouth. "I left my last booze in the SnowCat."

"What do you know about Thor?"

"Viking gods for dummies; Loki and Thor are brothers. They are both gods, um, aesirs I believe, and sons of all mighty Odin. Odin is like the big boss of all the Norse gods. And possibly the Loki I've met is pretty pissed off and wants to take over our world. Or then he's just a scary nutcase."

"How do you know this?"

"I spent a summer hiking in Norway with my parents when I was a kid. I read all about that stuff back then. Mount Jotunheim was awesome, by the way." Peter glanced around him in the increasing wind, his eyes squinted nearly close. "Anyway, you won't be flying anywhere in this weather."

"We have the most modern technology on our side. We'll be airborne in no time!" agent Coulson assured and turned at the Quinjets.

Barton walked back at them seemingly annoyed through the blowing snow. "The wings are frozen and the engines' turbines filled with snow. We're not flying anytime soon."

"Yeah, like I said. Welcome to Greenland!" Pete stated and headed back at the research facilities taking cover from the rising storm.

Agent Coulson heaved a sigh and followed Pete. "You don't happen to have any coffee and some Aspirin in there, do you?" he asked, suffering from a nasty hangover with a touch of airsickness.

**... ...**

"How much further is it?" Loki asked, watching the never-ending scenery of the white snowy slopes and mounds as the vehicle slowly roamed forward against the gusty wind. He had momentarily seen the sun that was now covered with thick clouds and heavy rain of snow.

"Way too long," Emma admitted, regretting her decision to take Loki to the coast, more and more with every passing mile. She yawned, rubbing her tired eyes. They had been driving through the night and she had gone on with a couple hours sleep a few nights already. "If we're lucky, it will only take two days."

Loki squinted, his mouth gaping in disbelief. "For heaven's sake, doesn't this chariot go any faster?"

"I'm afraid not. Besides it would be too dangerous to go faster."

Loki shifted in his seat closer, staring at her like trying to get inside her head. He thought he had already seen that slope they just passed. Was she circling? "Are you stalling? Like I said that would not do you any good."

"Don't get this wrong, but I wouldn't want to spend any more time with you inside this deathtrap than I have to."

"I am hurt. You should consider yourself honored in my presence."

Emma tried not to roll her eyes for that remark. And Loki frowned, crossing his arms over his chest. He was beginning to sound like his arrogant and smug brother, and he hated that.

The gusts of wind shook the vehicle, snow flurrying wildly around blocking out the vision of the assumed road. Emma slowed down the speed, letting the SnowCat continued crawling. It was impossible to see anything. And the red light blinking in the dashboard wasn't good news either. She had ignored it for dozens of miles already. It was time to refill but that was not happening in that weather. Worried and a bit scared of his possible reactions, she stopped the vehicle and glanced at the demigod by her side.

"What is it now?" Loki asked, shooting her a questioning look.

"The truck needs refilling and it won't happen in this weather," she explained, feeling herself like an amateur. You never left the facilities without checking the weather forecast twice and filling up the fuel tank. "The wind is blowing from the west. It means that we'll be stuck in this snowstorm for a while," she took note for her annoyance. "Unless you know how to change the weather?"

The flurry of snow kept coming thick and hard hiding the vision completely. Loki let out a sigh, wishing for once to posses Thor's powers of controlling the thunder and weather. "So, we are just going to sit and wait?" His voice was full of disbelief and annoyance. In one minute he had been the king of Asgard, having all power in the Nine Realms in his grasp, the next he was stuck in a damn snowstorm in the middle of nowhere with a mortal woman.

"So… Hungry?"

"No," Loki grunted. "I do not need mortal's food for my nourishment."

"Well, I do," Emma said and turned off the engine.

Loki watched at her as she reached on the backseat over the seats, picking up her bag, her bare lower back peeking under her sweater. Her light skin looked smooth and inviting to touch. And quickly his annoyance chanced into a boyish, witty grin. "Hm, let us cuddle to keep each other warm through the storm," Loki suggested in a mischievous tone.

Emma shot an alarmed look at him while sitting back. "I don't need warm!"

"Neither do I, but it would be fun pastime," said Loki with a grin. He loved to tease. It was in his nature, and he enjoyed seeing her getting uneasy with him, stirred up with emotions. It certainly was a hell of a better than being feeling sorry for himself.

"You know, the weather isn't that bad. I think I'll try that refilling now," Emma shrieked, her hand on the door's handle as she was going to leave outside into the storming blizzard.

Loki grabbed from her wrist fast but holding on lightly. "Stay! Please," he said softly, sounding suddenly disturbingly compassionate. He let out a tiny, soft chuckle. "I was merely teasing."

His words stopped her, confused. For the first time when Emma truly gazed at him in the daylight, his hand around her wrist, she took note that his eyes were green and beautiful and the look in them sincere. Even she tried she couldn't deny it that he was appealingly handsome. His long black hair, those mesmerizing emerald eyes, tall strong figure and a smile that could have melted a heart would have swept any woman of her feet. That is if he wouldn't have been also a dangerous, possibly narcissistic, evidently mad, blue-skinned and red-eyed being from another dimension.

Emma slumped back on her seat hesitating. "I'm still not going to cuddle with you!" she assured warily as much to him as to herself. "So, don't you try anything weird!"

Amused Loki freed her hand. "I will behave. You have my word."

Emma found it hard to trust him even a bit. Hunger in her belly she went through her bag and took bread, energy bars and a thermos bottle. She hadn't have time to take any decent food with her. She had just grabbed what she had found. And soon Loki too found himself sitting with a mug of hot chocolate in his hand.

The god of mischief kept staring at the questionable hot, brown drink that smelled nice though. But it looked like something that had came out from one or the other end of a bilge snipe. "This looks disgusting!" Loki remarked his nose wrinkling. He noticed that Emma drank from her own cup gratefully.

She threw him a nutty energy bar, guessing he should eat too. _A nutty for a Nutty! Maybe he was allergic for nuts and it would blow his head off._

"Sorry, we ran out of ambrosia. Wasn't expecting a god to pop up. Go ahead! You can't go on your campaign of world domination on empty stomach," she said sarcastically and took a bite from her own protein bar. She craved for fresh fruits but those would have frozen so she had left them off.

"I am touched of your concern," Loki answered dryly picking up her offering with a frown. "Is this what you mortals eat these days? No wonder the farthest you have made it is the moon. Your world desperately cries out for a savior. Thankfully I am here now."

_"__Please, don't self-deprecate yourself,"_ Emma whispered in an undertone into her cup.

Loki gave her a small sideways scowl and tossed the energy bar over his shoulder. He wasn't putting anything wrapped in a paper into his mouth. It banged against his helmet on the backseat. But he decided to give a chance to the drink and cautiously took a sip. He took another one and savored it in his mouth like he would have been tasting wine. "Um, I like this drink. I like the way it feels in my mouth. So sweet, creamy and hot." He turned at Emma with cocoa mustaches. "Hm… Maybe, a bit too sweet. It could do with a little enhancement."

_How could have his behaviors been so confusingly different_, Emma wondered, seeing but not believing it when the angry demigod enjoyed a simple cup of hot chocolate. She couldn't help but to grin as she noticed his cocoa mustaches. It had been unintentional grin and she did her best to wipe it off from her face.

"What?"

"You have little something, there," Emma said pointing at her own upper lip.

"Thank you?" Loki wiped his lip with his thump, his curious eyes locked with hers for a moment. That had been the first smile he had seen on her lips, and she tried to hide if from him. He knew he had greater matters to concern but he had liked that little twinkle in her eyes. For a mortal, if that what she was, she wasn't that bad and he was a bit sorry he had treated her in so horrid way.

Loki puckered up his dark brows. _What was this insane sentimentality he was feeling? If this would continue further on they would soon probably braid each other's hair._ He wondered what was it, that had made him spared her from his wrath.

"Here! Some boost for you," Emma offered him the vodka flask Pete had forgotten under the front seat for the enhancement he was asking for, unsure was it a good idea at all._ Maybe he would get drunk and pass out, and she could kick him out into the snow and drive away_. "Vodka. That's alcohol."

Curiously Loki took the bottle she handed to him and took a sniff from it. "Oh please, tell me you are trying to get me drunk?"

"Wouldn't cross my mind."

The drink smelled promising so he took a gulp like it would have been plain water. "Ah, it's nothing like a thousand years old Asgardian liquor, but it will do," he stated and poured some of it into his cup. He liked the warming feeling of the drink. Then he offered the bottle to Emma. "Drink with me!"

Emma shook her head, moving her cup into a safe distance from the bottle. "Um, no thanks. I don't drink, ever."

Loki wanted to pour some of it into her cup. He was more of a social drinker at least in those few times he had touched the stuff. "Well, I insist!"

"Sorry, it's not going to happen."

"You dare to defy me?"

"In this case; hell yes! I've got some issues with that stuff. Trust me, you don't want to go there!"

For this time Loki yielded, taking her word for it. He took a sip from this vodka-enhanced hot chocolate with a delight. "Hm, you don't know what you miss," he said in a voice as soft and smooth as the drink he was enjoying.

_The whole situation was insane_, Emma thought, watching at the god creature by her side. He could have killed her, he had already hurt everyone he had met and apparently he was going to hurt a lot more. But there he was, behaving humanly with a mug of hot chocolate. _Was this just a sick nightmare she was seeing?_ She gave a short though for Scott and Pete, pondering how they might be doing at the moment, hoping that they were both alright, hoping that the help had arrived there for Scott in time. She feared the worst though. She tried to forget about it or she wouldn't have been able to eat at all.

The blazing snowstorm outside made Emma pulling her feet on the seat and wrapped the blanked around her tighter, curling up inside it, for comfort not so much for warmth. They sat in silence a long while, Loki staring outside immerged in his thoughts. The continuous howling of the tempest wind was like an off-key sad song from a poor opera.

Emma ate her snack and some bread, poured herself a refill and watched at Loki behind her steaming cup, pondering if she dared to bother him when he seemed to be lost in his thoughts. No matter how scary he was, she was curious about him. She didn't everyday take a road trip with an alien. "May I ask you a personal question?" she asked in a small voice, breaking the silence.

Returning from his thoughts Loki turned at her and moved to more comfortable position on his side of the seat, lifting his left hand on the backrest, looking satisfied with his thermo mug. "Well, isn't this lovely? We are bonding alongside by a cup of comfort?" He had no better things to do, and he was slightly interested of the movements of her mind, so he nodded. "Ask away then."

Emma didn't quite know how to put it down to words. "When I first saw you out there, your skin appeared to be blue with some patterns... I'm not mean to be rude, but is that what you really look like?"

The question was personal enough and didn't please Loki. He had been doing his best to try to forget about his Jotun origins. Denial would have been easier. A thin irritation flickered across his face and he clenched his jaw. "To be brutally honest," Loki begun (which he usually never was about himself), "I was born with such a burden, as a Frost Giant. But I was raised as an Asgardian, conjured to look like one, as you can see."

"Ah…? Right."

Loki could tell by her expression that the words meant nothing to her. How could have she known what an Asgardian or a Jotun was supposed to look like. They sat in an awkward silence again a moment. Loki rolled his eyes, heaving a short sigh. He would have to start from the very beginning if she was to understand anything. "Asgardians and the Frost Giants, the Jotuns, have been sworn enemies as long as anyone cares to remember. I was born in the time of great war between the two races. And as a newborn I was abandoned and left to die for lacking the desirable qualities for a Frost Giant," he explained in a strained but quiet voice, staring somewhere far outside through the snowy windshield.

Emma sighed, lowering her cup. She was interested and surprised that he bothered to tell her more. And suddenly a bit sad too. "How could anyone do that to an innocent baby?"

"Apparently I was too small and weak to be an heir of the Jotun king."

"Jotun?" Emma realized. "When you were asking if this was Jotunheim, you weren't talking about some mountain in Norway."

"Uh-uh..." Loki murmured his negative answer, mouth full of cocoa.

"But here you are now. How did you survive?"

Loki didn't know why he continued, but Emma suddenly showed genuine interest towards his story. She listened to him in silence, willing to learn more, like a child who listen to a bedtime story. And he couldn't imagine any Asgardian woman, except Frigga, showing him such compassion after hearing about his true parentage. He realized that he had a need to share his thoughts with someone, to go it through aloud, to be heard. And she wasn't an Asgardian, so no harm would be done if she would know the truth. She wasn't going to tell it to anyone. He could have always silenced her for good.

He met the gaze of her blue eyes and took a big gulp from his mug, seeking for encouragement to continue. "My fa..." His tongue cut the word before it left his mouth. _Not father anymore_. "Odin, the Allfather and king of Asgard, after his victorious battle, a knee deep in Jotun blood, found me abandoned from a frozen temple. He stole me like a relic, like spoils of war. He raised me as his own, side by side with his real heir. He kept my true origins hidden from me, disguising me to look like an Asgardian with his sorcery. Just waiting for the day he might have some use for me." He sifted in his seat, being uncomfortable about the subject, going it over once again in his mind.

"You see, it has very recently elicited to me that my whole life have been nothing more but a cruel lie. Ever since a child I was let to believe that I could be worthy to rule Asgard one day. But, Odin would have never let a monster like a Jotun to sit on his throne." Loki gazed at Emma, overwhelmed with emotions from sadness to hatred, feelings he couldn't hide, his eyes gave them away. He leaned a bit closer to Emma, recalling their earlier conversation about her hardship of being a mutant. "So," he sighed his voice shivering, his eyes locked with hers, "I do know what it feels like to learn that you truly are a monster."

His words and the emotions behind them, struck Emma speechless. He had told her way more than she had asked for, and it took her by a great surprise. "I am so sorry," she whispered, sadness glimmering in her eyes. She knew what it felt like to be not wanted, to be abandoned by those who had once loved. "That is just... so wrong in every possible way."

That had been the first 'sorry' Loki had heard anyone telling to him after all the lies had came to light. He hadn't been asking for her sympathies, not even wanting it. In fact he would have hated to be patronized more than anything. But that simple 'sorry' had touched him in some odd way. It was as if she would have really meant it. For the first time he didn't know what to say. He had liked it though, the way she had listened to him; really listening, without questioning, interrupting or ridiculing, just listening what he had to say.

Emma kept studying his face that showed genuine grief. His story sounded unbelievable with kings and wars and monsters but she decided to believe him. She had seen his Jotun appearance, so she thought it had to be true what he had told. "So, this Odin adopted you knowing what you are?"

"Most certainly yes."

"Why he never told you the truth in the first place?"

Loki turned looking grim, rubbing his mug between his palms. "Odin was pursuing his own interests; a foolish hope for peace and an alliance with the beasts. All would have been in my expense, of course. At least now I know why I was treated like a lesser being all my life. Naturally he always favorite his own flesh and blood."

"But still," Emma looked at him questioningly, "you're a son of a king, aren't you? Does it make you... a prince of Jotunheim then?"

Loki let out a short ironic laugh. "Oh, yes. In fact I am a rightful king of the Jotuns since I slew the monster who'd fathered me. My dear, Jotunheim is the most worthless, barren and decaying realm there is. More wretched than this land here. And its inhabitants are mere beasts." He chuckled a bit, not meanly. "But, thank you for trying to cheer me up."

_Did he just tell that he had killed his father?_ Emma hesitated to continue, as if she would have been tearing open unhealed mental wounds, wondering how weird this would go. She had enough digesting to do with all the kings, monsters and strange realms across the space. It sounded that he liked to talk so she let him do the talking. "So, what did you do? After you found out the truth?"

"Aren't you full of questions?" Loki replied with a small mischievous smile that revealed his dimples. He found her curiosity towards his affairs winsome and he gave her a long studying gaze which made her turn her eyes away from him.

Emma didn't want to give him a wrong impression. "Sorry. I don't mean to pry, just hoping to kill some time by talking."

"Very well." Loki finished his drink, liking her choice of words, staring down at the bottom of his cup like thinking carefully what to tell her. "My brother Thor, thanks to his arrogant and idiotic actions, brought about new war between Asgard and Jotunheim. I can tell you that much that Thor is not the brightest star in the constellation, if you know what I mean." Loki noticed Emma giving him a tiny amused glance, and he liked it. "Odin became very angry, more than anyone would have guessed, and banished Thor to Earth. The burden of the throne fell upon me when Odin himself fell into a slumber for restoring his life-force. He is old and getting weaker. Watching over the Nine Realms is taking its toll I assume."

Loki remained quiet for a moment, regretting his own outburst that had driven Odin into the Odinsleep. Everything had gone wrong from there. He had killed Laufey, the monster who had fathered him, only to protect Odin. And it had meant nothing to the old king of Asgard. Even so he had played his own little part in that game. "You want to hear the funny part?" he asked and licked the remains of the sweet taste of hot chocolate from his lips. "I never wanted the throne. All I ever wanted was to be equal with Thor. But once it was handed to me, I knew, that throne was my birthright. I was a king until I was betrayed by Thor who broke his exile by returning to our realm. Even I did my best to keep him on Earth for the sake of Asgard, it was not enough." The thermos cup in his palm crushed with that thought.

"Ohh... that's alright. I have a spare cup," Emma murmured uneasily for consolation. She tried to understand what he had told her, fitting it into the bigger picture. It was like his whole life's story, from a world way different than hers. But it seemed that their worlds had already collided as she had witnessed it through the sound waves from space.

She offered him the spare cup and a refill but Loki shook his head. So, she gave him a moment of peace before she said: "Sounds like you have a very complicated family."

"That I used to have," Loki reminded, mostly to himself, sadness in his voice. "They are not my family anymore. They never were."

Emma took a sip from her cup, reflecting his story, finding a few things in common with her own life and his. There was something bothering about his words though. "You keep referring Jotuns as monsters. Are they really that bad?" she asked cautiously.

Loki pondered was she asking that in general or was she talking about him. "No kind word has ever been spoken about those foul creatures. Jotuns would have conquered this realm of yours over millennia ago and turned the whole planet into a frozen wilderness like this land here if Asgardians would have not stopped them."

"Oh?" Emma shuddered. "It is just that the history is always written by the winners," she said in a small voice and glanced at him. "Always."

After what she had said, a great uncertainty reflected from Loki's face as he considered the possibility that the Allfather would have fabricated the whole history; by demonizing their enemies and thus justifying his own actions against the Jotuns. It made him pondering, had it even been true that he had been abandoned as a baby by Laufey like Odin had told him. What if he too had been simply stolen like the Casket of Ancient Winters. He gave a tiny shook of head and pushed aside his doubts. Odin's lies couldn't have gone that far.

To Emma it seemed that the god creature fell once again into his own thoughts and she feared that she had said something inappropriate. So she changed the subject. "Was your brother by any chance banished to New Mexico?"

Loki shrugged, not giving a damn. _Why would she have been interested of Thor?_ "Why you ask?"

"Well, our equipments showed that there occurred six massive energy discharges over New Mexico within a week. The latest three just yesterday. Similar that occurred when you arrived. I was wondering..."

The god of mischief lifted his curious gaze at Emma, a satisfied gleam in his green eyes. He didn't stay too long for wallowing in sadness. If he would find again the place Thor had arrived he would easily find Thor's woman and have his revenge. After that he was free to do whatever he pleased. "Yes. We should go there, to New Mexico."

"We? You can't possibly mean you and me? As together?"

"But of course," said Loki, filled with sudden enthusiasm, moving closer to her and taking her cup from her hands only to place it over the dashboard. "I recall you promised to take me anywhere I will desire to go," he reminded her, picking her hands on his.

Emma took note he had quite big hands and long artistic fingers, and the skin of his palms were smooth as one could have assumed for a royal. Concerned she tried to free herself from his soft grip, sliding back as much as she could in the small cabin of the truck. "Yes, but that is like – I don't know – over 4000 miles away. We're not getting there with this truck. Greenland is a very big island…"

Loki moved with her over the seat, keeping her hands in his hold. "Yes, and I am most grateful for your efforts. Please, let me express you my gratitude," he said in a playfully seductive voice.

"No! You don't really have to do that!" Emma squealed. His voice made her skin crawl. And his touch, even soft one, made her very uncomfortable. He was coming on to her too eagerly and she just wanted to run out into the storm.

"But I must." Loki lifted his right hand on her face, touching her cheek, his fingers resting on her temple and the gaze of his piercing eyes on hers. He didn't mind of touching her once more, but the real reason for it was that he needed to create a connection with her mind for what he was about to do. With all the information she had about him now and especially about Thor's visit to Earth, he didn't want her to go AWOL on him. And with that little telepathic link with her primitive mind, he would always find her, no matter if she would try and succeed to escape from him. She was as good as his little pet.

"No! What are you doing? Stop!" Emma cried out, doing her best to fight him off, which wasn't much. She didn't want to be touched in any way by anyone. "I'll sue you!"

"Shh!" Loki hushed her gently, a bit amused of her reaction, glancing around him only with his eyes. "Look!" he whispered, letting her go, presenting her the flawless illusion of the great throne room of Asgard that he had conjured all around them, partly to cover up his true intentions and partly to really thank her.

Emma heaved a small sigh, astonished by the unbelievable vision that surrounded them, traces of embarrassment fading away from her face, since he hadn't gotten physical with her as she had feared. The SnowCat was gone and they were only sitting on a bench inside a huge golden hall that could have eaten a whole stadium, several even.

Loki smiled proud of his flawless creation. Unfortunately this was as close he would get home for now on. Unless he would master the dark energy to gain access to the Bifrost that might take another thousand years. "Welcome to Asgard!" he sighed, taking a look at Emma who was nearly holding her breath. It gave him an odd satisfaction to see how his illusion made so great impression on her. Finally his sorcerer's gifts were receiving the admiration they had always deserved. Then again, she was merely a mortal, so this might have been quite mind-blowing experience to her.

"Oh, is this real?" Emma beheld the conjured image without blinking, astonished by the sight. The mighty pillars, the grand golden throne, the arching ceiling far above them where were paintings, picturing the divine family with Odin, Frigga and their two sons; Thor and Loki with halos around their heads. "Is... is that you?" Emma gasped pointing up at his image. He was pictured there as a saint or a god. "And that's your throne? Wow, what a place! How is this possible? Are we there?"

Loki liked it when Emma had called the throne 'his throne'. That's the way it should have been. He watched a while his vision in longing silence. This had once been his everyday life. Soon it was becoming only a memory of his past.

"I am afraid the simple illusions are all I can offer you for now, Emma Morgan."

"Is this some cosmic magic or are you messing up with my mind?"

The god of mischief appreciated her interest towards his gift more than he wanted to admit. "Call it magic, cosmic energy or highly-advanced science, all the same, it is the fabric of the whole universe. I merely alter what you see, crafting it." With only one move of his hand, the scenery changed, showing them a view over the glorious citadel of Asgard as it was seen from the high tower of the palace. What came to the illusions, this was his masterpiece. He had never done anything this big before. It surprised even himself.

Emma just sat and watched at the marvelous illusion that felt like she would have actually been there. She gave a sideways glance at Loki, puzzled why he was showing this to her. Clearly there was a side of him that wasn't all evil and cruel. What he did was beyond her understanding, but it surely felt magical. She turned back again watching the breathtaking scenery, unable to hold back the tears falling on her cheeks. "It is so beautiful."

"Are you… crying?" Loki asked his tone turning softer and confused. _There were no pleasing women!_

Quickly Emma wiped her eyes on her sleeve. "It's a girl thing. You wouldn't understand."

It sure was! This was the closest thing she had ever have to been in a boy's home. Arose of mutant abilities used to wreak people's normal social live. Her head felt so messed up by all the trouble, anxiousness and the beautiful illusions (and his mind games) that if he would have tried to make a move on her and kiss her on that very moment, she wouldn't have resisted it, no matter what he was.

His forehead furrowed, Loki decided to take her word for it. "You see that observatory?" he asked pointing at far in the distance at a ball-shaped golden structure on the other side of a colorful, sparkling bridge. "That opened a bridge to Bifrost, allowing us to travel everywhere in the Nine Realms, guarding them and keeping in order. Midgard, your Earth is one of those realms. And those energy discharges you mentioned about were merely wormholes thru Bifrost."

He kept explaining the order of the Nine Realms and the work of the Bifrost Bridge a pride in his voice, and fascinated Emma listened. She liked the way he explained it, for the first time kindly and understandably like he would have been a totally different person. His knowledge of the universe and how it worked was simply fascinating. For only once she interrupted him with a question: "So, the universe itself… does it have an end, some sort of limits, or does it keep forever expanding like we believe now?"

"Are you mortals still struggling to understand the mysteries of cosmos? No wonder other more advanced civilizations do not bother to pay you a visit," Loki said carelessly, taking pleasure in teasing her.

"Are you not going to tell me?"

"No, you are not ready to know the truth."

"That's unfair. You know what I think?"

"I am not a mind reader."

"Hm. I think you are as ignorant about the truth as I am."

A wide smile spread on Loki's face for her attempt of making him to tell her. "You cannot handle the truth," he assured playfully and then continued his talk about the other realms.

Despite his teasingly condescending attitude towards her, Emma could have listened to him for hours. His deep, soothing voice alone would have been a reason for her to listen to him even if he would have been reading names from a phonebook. A part of her felt guilty of actually enjoying his company after all he had done.

She kept staring at the dazzling Asgard's citadel after he had finished, thinking that that's what heaven must look like. "That looks like a perfect world. Why you came on Earth? Here, in Greenland?"

Loki snorted but settled his tone. _Like he would have had a damn choice!_

"Thor, in his great wisdom, broke the Rainbow Bridge to Bifrost, destroying with it our connection to the other realms." He remained quiet for a moment. That was too close memory to deal with. It had happened just yesterday. The fatal battle with his brother on the Rainbow Bridge that had thrown him into a desperate solution. The illusion faded away, bringing back the reality with the SnowCat and the blizzard outside. He was telling the story, so he didn't have to tell it completely correct. Only a flicker of smile visited on his sorrowful face. "He was mad. My efforts to stop him were useless. And finally, in the rage of battle, he cast me into a collapsing wormhole. That's how I ended up here, without means to return home. I definitely would have not chosen this place." He let out a snort. "I am sorry to say but even the Frost Giant in me does not appreciate this frozen wasteland."

That explained why the energy discharge had been unstable. Emma swallowed, looking him straight in the eyes. She had a soft spot for underdogs since she considered herself as one. Loki's story was heartbreaking and suddenly she found herself truly feeling sorry for him. That had also answered the question why he had seemed so pained when she'd first found him. "The collapsing wormhole? Wow! You've gone through a lot. I'm sorry to hear that. I can't even imagine… How did you manage out of it alive?"

"That remains a mystery to me as well. But it was painful as hell."

"Christ! Your brother sounds like a total asshole."

After a slightly puzzled expression Loki grinned, placing Emma's cup back to her hand. "Oh, I agree," he nodded and toasted with his flask. "Against all odds, maybe this is a beginning of a beautiful friendship."

Emma gave him an uneasy smile. The first smile they actually shared. "Let's not get carried away. But thank you, really, for showing Asgard to me. It was amazing." Emma drank from her cup to get a chance to be quiet for a while and taking her eyes off him. She didn't want to go saying something stupid again like that comment about his brother. And she didn't want to go telling Loki that she found him amazing. That would have been too wrong and weird. They were just killing time, that's all, not getting closer or anything like that.

The hot chocolate wasn't that hot anymore and there was an odd after taste in it. "This tastes strange," she wondered and took another gulp just to be sure. It tasted strong and bitter as if there would have been... Her eyes caught up with the vodka flask Loki just drained empty. "Oh, you wouldn't, would you?" she asked stammering, getting a bad feeling.

"Would I what?" Loki looked back at her with innocent face.

"Because if you would have," Emma slurred a bit tipsy way, pointing her finger at him, "you'll be so sorry," she stated, emptying her cup without a second thought. "Oh no!"

Loki puckered up his lips. "Are you, by any chance, getting drunk?" he asked, amused, being comfortable enough to introduce to her his mischievous side. He had added only a small amount of the vodka into her cup when she wasn't watching, not expecting her turn completely soused. The small bottle he had drunk hadn't much effect on him.

"How could I? I haven't been drinking, for God's sake. My body won't tolerate any alcohol. Another of my amazing mutant powers! That's why I don't touch that stuff."

"Oh, for heaven's sake!" Loki heaved a sigh, face-palming. He shouldn't have done it. He had thought it was just a bit of a fun, just to ease her mind, but apparently he had been wrong. _Had he poisoned her? Was she going to die now?_

"Oh, let me tell you something, mister! You've been a really big meanie! And you're as scary as hell! You stabbed my boss. Not that I'd liked him very much. He's a dick. But you don't go hurting people on this planet like that, and then go showing a girl some beautiful illusions. It doesn't work like that here!" Emma ranted, all inhibition gone with the small sip of vodka. There wasn't a problem with her body to tolerate alcohol; it consumed it faster than an average person's. But even a drop went straight to her head, messing her up. She took a breath and gazed at the demigod, her voice and eyes turning softer and emotional. "Were you a blue baby?"

Loki shook his head, glancing at her under his palm like _what the hell_. "What?"

"Aww, you must have been very cute little blue baby. No wonder Odin took you in."

"You would show great wisdom to be quiet now and say no more!"

"When my mutant powers begun to develop, I swore I wouldn't ever bring a child into this world. But if I would there be no reason to abandon it." Emma sat in silence for a moment, tears watering her eyes. "My mom abandoned me because I didn't fit anymore into her perfect life of fake tans, hair extensions and hot-pink acrylic nails. I could never do that to a child, to put it through what I've been," Emma explained, concentrating to every word, her slurry voice crumbling.

Loki heaved a long sigh, rolling his eyes. _So much for fun! He had created a monster_. "That is quite enough, you mewling sentiment!"

Emma didn't listen to him at all. She was too busy pouring her heart out. "Ah, I never knew my father. Mom said it was a one night stand, they both drunk. She picked him up from a bar... She didn't even know his name. She said he was Logan... For God's sake, she didn't even bother to know his first name before jumping in bed..."

Loki felt his was going to throw up soon. Someone's parents' sex-life was a bit too much for him to bear. "Too much information! Shut up, please! I would not want to kill you now."

Emma turned at him with a silly smile. "Loo-kiii, you have so pretty eyes."

Loki glanced at her with a shyish, flattered smirk. "You think so?"

"Yeah… I like your smile."

"Oh, you do now?"

"You have dimples. Even your dimples have dimples." She giggled like a little girl.

"Oh… this cannot go any worse…"

"You know, for such a psycho, you're not bad. You're a beautiful, dark, fallen god," Emma slurred, lifting her hand on the other one of the figures she saw and caressed his cheek. "Ohh, did it hurt when you fell down from the heaven?"

Not feeling so flattered anymore, Loki grabbed from her wrist and dropped her hand down from his face. "Pull yourself together, woman!" he growled, uncomprehending how could have she turned out into such an idiot. Her drunken state was her only excuse for him to spare her life at the moment. Otherwise he wouldn't have tolerated anyone speaking to him like that.

Emma couldn't help but to giggle as she saw Loki's helmet on the backseat. She was as a high as a kite, without a control of herself. "So, what's deal with your horns, huh? Hah, I mean, they are very big and long." She burst out laughing. "Someone's having little size issues?"

Loki frowned, uncomprehending her point. He hated to been laughed at. He had always hated that in all those years in Asgard, Thor's friends making fun of him. "What are you talking about?"

"Men on Earth, when they have size issues they drive with big, big cars, owning just about anything big, compensating their lacking of –well, you know- the size."

That ripped the remains of a smile off his face. Heavily annoyed, after figuring out her meaning, Loki stretched his arm to get his helmet from the backseat, to explain the meaning of the horns of his mighty ceremonial/war helmet. "I will show you!"

"Don't!" Emma shrieked, giggling, covering her eyes, expecting him to show something quite different. "It's way too cold here. It wouldn't do you justice..."

Loki let out a loud gasp at the tone of her offensive words. "For a woman of your intelligence, you are a..." He raised his voice to scold her, only to notice that she passed out under his arm, her weary head pillowing against his chest. "Are you dead?"

Emma was breathing softly, finally quiet and sleeping. She made a small sound, a pleased hum, leaning against his body and lifting her arm around his waist. Loki remained unmoving for a moment as if waiting her to fall off. He put his helmet back on the seat, giving a short valuating look at it. He had always loved his helmet. It was certainly a hell of a better than Thor's ridiculous winged one. "I have no size issues," he assured to himself.

He laid his gaze on the sleeping woman under his arm. She felt warm against his side, her small body pressed against his as if seeking shelter for her rest. Loki heaved a sigh and folded his arm around her, having no heart to shove her away. Her warmth was welcomed in the coldness even he would have managed without it. Borrowing some of her blanket, he wrapped it around of both of them. Unaccustomed of such intimacy with a strange woman, he found it rather comforting. Cuddling thru the storm wouldn't have been such a bad idea after all. There was a side of her that he actually liked, not the drunken one, definitely not that one. Her mutant powers, no matter how strange they were, fascinated him when he thought about what she was capable of. And she didn't even appreciate her gifts, even she was still alive thanks to them.

The cold wind shook the snow vehicle. And inside it Loki rested his eyes, staring through the windshield into the icy storm. It was like Jotunheim out there. _Wasn't it just his luck to be cast out into some frozen wilderness like this?_ He had now too much time to think about his ordeal altogether, caused to him by Thor's regardless actions and Odin's lies. _His whole life nothing more than a lie!_ It made him wanting compensation, an absolute satisfaction for all the wrongs, torment and loss he had suffered. Throughout his whole life in Asgard he'd never felt that he fitted in there. He knew the reason now.

_"__I only wanted to protect you from the truth."_

_"__He kept the truth from you so that you will never feel different."_

He recalled those words Odin and Frigga had told him. _Would that truth really been so bad to deal with that they had seen it wiser to keep from him?_ Now he was forced to deal with it alone. _Very well!_ Let the Allfather and the son have Asgard. If he was born to be a king then damn right he was going to get himself a throne and destroy anyone who would try to stop him from achieving his goal. He would take Midgard and launch his wrath upon humanity as revenge. For that he would probably need an army.

He noticed his fingers caressing Emma's shoulder, his arm resting around her. _Of course!_ The answer lied right there in his arms. Maybe, if he could find others of her kind, others rejected and unwanted like she and he was he could give them a reason to fight for against their oppressors. That could be a fine start. He would need her help for that.

"Rest now, my pet," he whispered into her ear and pressed his cheek against her silky soft hair. The scent of her golden curls reminded him of the sweet fruits of Asgard. He had to admit it that he had enjoyed her company in spite of that he had practically forced her to come along. He had liked the way she had asked him all those questions, the way she had listened to him fascinated, the way she had looked at him a few times with her big blue eyes when he showed her his illusions. It had all made him feeling a bit better about himself, but there was nothing in this world that would have truly taken his pain away.


	4. 4 Collision

Believing that she was awaking from a mad dream, Emma opened her eyes, and noticed her exhale vaporizing in the cool air. She felt comfortably warm, under a blanket, leaning against the side of a male body covered with black leather and green expensive fabric decorated with golden details. The golden ornamental gorget on his upper chest felt hard against her right temple and she pulled her head up a bit. She felt an arm around her, cradling her, and found her own hand resting on his thigh too close to his groins. She took note that they were sitting in the cabin of the SnowCat, the windshield and side windows covered with snow outside. Slightly horrid she recalled the ride over the glarier with the bad-tempered demigod, and cautiously lifted her gaze up, facing Loki's smug smile.

"About time, my dear. You got me worried that I caused you a permanent damage," the demigod smirked in triumph, his green eyes studying her with curiosity.

"Y-you what?" Emma pulled away from his embrace fast like a cat from a hot stove. "What? No, no, no! " she gasped having no recollection of the events that had led her into his arms. _What was that damage he mentioned about?_ "Huh? What...?"

"The blizzard has past. Perhaps we can continue this, hm, intellectually stimulating conversation while we proceed our way?"

Bemused Emma moved as far away from him as she managed. She glanced at herself, finding herself decent, thankfully still all dressed up. But her memory wasn't fully there. "What have you done to me?"

Loki smirked. "Nothing you were not willing to do."

Emma didn't like the sound of that. "What was that supposed to mean? And why were we like _that_?"

Loki frowned, looking disappointed. "Oh, do not tell me you have no recollection of all the fun we had?"

"Um? Of what?"

Loki enjoyed too much of this. Being drunk or not she had dared to laugh at him a few hours ago and now it was his time to have his fun. He had dwelled alone long enough in his dark thoughts while she was asleep. And this certainly gave him something else to think about. "I must say that a drop of vodka turned you into quite a beast," he admitted in an appreciating tone.

"You've got me drunk?" Emma gasped, abashed, knowing perfectly well that she couldn't hold her liquor. "How could you?"

She couldn't even dare to beginning to think of what she had done, or what he had might have done to her. She had thought that she could have at least trusted his word to be a gentleman. Embarrassed and angry by his deceitful doings, Emma kicked the door open and jumped into a knee deep snow. The snowstorm was over and the vehicle covered with a white, soft mantle like everything else around them. Fresh cold air had never felt that good.

"Shit!" Emma hissed, struggling to get through the snow at the tail of the vehicle, braiding her long hair loosely to stop it from getting on her face in the wind. "Oh, you're such an idiot!" she scolded herself for trusting the mischievous demigod who had shown her those beautiful visions from his home world and then intoxicated her with a drop of alcohol. And for what reason, she wondered, having a bad hunch of his intentions. Then again, if he would have just wanted to rape her, he would have done it long ago while she was sober, she reasoned. "_I'll behave, you have my word_. My ass!"

Loki came out too from his side of the truck, meeting Emma on the back. The cold gusts of wind made his dark-green cape fluttering on his side and messing up his neatly styled raven hair. "I meant no offence!"

"Oh, really? Well, it seems that offence is what you're good at!" Emma ranted, pulling the trunk open and taking out a large fuel can. "Mister freaking master of illusions!" she bridled in a silent voice, not meant him to hear, heaving the heavy canister towards the side of the SnowCat. _Men creatures were all the same, no matter where they were from!_

Loki watched her struggling with the canister and picked it up for her with ease. Apparently he had upset her more severely that he had thought. It must have been a female-thing, since he recalled lady Sif also having a temper when it came to insignificant matters. "My apologies, but I do not see what the fuss is about."

Emma lifted her angry eyes at him. He looked so tall and imposing, standing in front of her that she felt herself shrinking. In height her forehead just reached to his chin. His dark, outstanding appearance was even more emphasized in the pure white, arctic wilderness that surrounded them. No matter what thoughts they had shared during the blizzard, she was still his prisoner and he was still a threatening extraterrestrial being.

Emma took a defending step back and opened the cap of the vehicle's fuel tank, glaring at Loki who was holding the fuel can. "Pour! There!" she told him and went back at the trunk picking up a shovel and a brush to clear up the snow from top and around the vehicle.

Loki let out a small unpleased breath, finding himself getting his hands dirty by doing her job. "I am a king not a serving boy!" he reminded her, grunting.

"Then off you go back to your precious kingdom, Your Highness!" Emma grunted back at him waving her hand towards the bright blue sky. "Don't expect me to drop a curtsy on you."

Loki answered with a dry smile. "You ran out of your pretty words? It was not so long ago when you were pouring sweet compliments into my ears. Your lavish endearments were such delightful."

Emma could awkwardly imagine that, her cheeks turning red, afraid of what kind of idiotic lovesick crap she had told him. There was no denying it; Loki was hot as hell, literally. Tall, dark, charming and yet so scary and dangerous. He was everything that a woman could have asked for, but in so wrong way. He was a badass prince from some beautiful alien kingdom, maybe a king even. He was an ultimate bad boy fantasy. Emma gasped. _What the hell had he done to her? Had he messed up her mind completely with those illusions? Why was she feeling like this?_ _Was she on heat?_

Emma cleared her throat. "You shouldn't have trusted a word of a drunk!"

Loki followed her with his gaze as she waded in the snow going past him with the shovel, not sparing a glance at him. He could have let her brush off all the snow, to letting off her steam, but he decided to give a helping hand. Making a small gesture with his hand, he conjured one strong wave of energy that blew away all the snow, uncovering the SnowCat completely. He waited as long as Emma turned at him looking annoyed, which took more than a few seconds.

"You are welcome," he smirked then with a tiny bow, and emptied the fuel canister into the tank and tossed it back in the trunk.

The wind played with his hair as he took a few steps closer to her, his dimples growing deeper on his cheeks. "There really is no reason why we should not continue further on of our little intimate liaison," he said in an inviting voice, rubbing his palms together slowly like he would have had cold.

No-one had never talked to her like that. Emma was melting, not really knowing where she found the will or courage to fight him. She swallowed, lifting slowly the shovel on her shoulder like a baseball bat, for some serious shooing out, reminding herself that this charming devil was still the same creature who had stabbed Scott. Who knew what kind of weird alien stuff he had done to her already.

"Stop, please! Or I'll swing that smug grin off your face!" she warned him, speaking slowly to cover her hesitation.

"You wish to fight me?" Loki asked, amused, spreading his arms wide to his sides theatrically. "After all we shared?"

"No, but a girl has got to stand up for herself." _No-one else was going to do it._ "I wish that my personal boundaries are respected."

Loki let out a careless laugh. "Where were your personal boundaries when you threw yourself in my embrace? Why would you resist now? I still need you."

"You've got two perfectly good hands. You go with them!"

Loki furrowed his forehead, giving her a perplexed look. "What?" he asked with a small shake of head. "You thought I...? Seriously?" His face darkened with a meaner smile. "If I simply would want to lay you I would have already taken you. Oh, several times, believe me!" he said, his voice turning harsher.

_Awkward! A possible language barrier conflict?_ "Oh?" Emma heaved an embarrassed sigh, biting her lips nervously. _Wait! Did she just tell him to go fuck himself?_ _Oh, shit! That couldn't be good._

Loki frowned even more, mouth gaping in indignation by her insolent tone as if it would have been pure blasphemy. "Wait! Were you implying that I should go...?"

Emma flashed an unintentional grin. "It was more of ah... an alternative suggestion!" she interjected him, pondering how far would she be able to run in the knee deep snow before he would unleash a hell upon her. "It came out wrong. Sorry. What if I'll just go and start the engine so we can move on?" she made another suggestion with more subtle tone, squeezing thigh on the arm of the shovel. _Why couldn't she just keep her mouth shut?_

Loki's temper nearly got the best of him as he beheld Emma with fiery eyes, with a look that could had devoured her soul. He was a trickster, but his humor had its limits. He had just found out that his whole life had been nothing more than a charade. He had been cast out from his throne and exiled into a dull world of mortals. He was not going to take anymore of insults. He was not to be defied by anyone, especially not a mortal woman.

He shook his finger at her in berating manner, the blazing expression slowly turning to a mischievous smile; only that his mouth wasn't smiling but his green eyes were.

"Have I not yet made my nature clear to you?" he asked in a dark voice moving closer to her with composed steps, and she moved backwards as much. He was a king. He was a god compared to her; he expected to be addressed with respect. Their little talks hadn't changes anything in that order of precedence. And he couldn't let his fledgling feelings towards her blur out his rational thinking.

"I am a god compared to you. You resistance is pointless, not to mention naive. I could break you apart with my bare hands," he declared, the tone of his voice building up wrath.

Emma frowned, shocked by his heated words, a little spark of anger flaring within her too. After all he had shown her and said in a charming way, he really was nothing more than a monster. She couldn't understand why she had felt so sorry for him.

"What? You don't know half of the shit I've gone through in my life. I'm not going to be bullied anymore by some dark smurf from space. So, back off!"

Not yielding and not knowing what kind of madness had struck her, she was holding tight on the only weapon she got ready to hit him with the shovel, no matter the consequences, knowing perfectly well that she had a zero chance to fight him.

Loki's eyes flashed with curiosity in a mean way. He had no desire for a battle of wills. He knew he always win, one way or the other. And he wished not to fight her. He had better things in mind for her. He made a small move of his hand towards her, and waited, a mischievous smile slowly growing on his lips.

Suddenly as if the arm of the shovel would have became alive, Emma felt it slithering heavily on her shoulder. When she saw it turned into a huge black serpent that was coiling itself around her arm, hissing menacingly, she shook it off in a fright, stepping away from it. The serpent dropped on the icy ground and turned back into a shovel.

Not yet recovered from the snake surprise, Emma found herself in Loki's arms as he snatched her and pushed against the flat, hoodless front of the vehicle. He lifted her in his embrace so that he could look straight to her eyes, locking her body against the vehicle's front with his, his pelvis between her open thighs. His right hand cupped her neck, so that she would have nowhere else to lay her eyes but on him. "You want me to eradicate that defiance from you, Emma Morgan?" he asked in a deep, dark voice, his mouth left ajar, his hot breathing vaporizing in the cold air.

A low moan escaped from between her lips as he held her hard on her place, his whole body leaning against hers heavily, their faces on the same level. "No!" Emma protested, inefficiently trying to push him off, her eyes nailed at his. He was just too damn strong, and he was scaring her, making her breathing harder with his weight against her. She feared that the windshield behind her (she heard it already cracking) would break and she would get injured. "Stop! Let me go! Loki, you don't play fair!" she screamed at his face.

Loki watched her closely, a small grin creeping on his face. "I never do. I am a trickster. I am the god of mischief," he reminded, breathing in her sweet scent. She looked so beautiful, so strong and yet so fragile, her small body trembling against his, her faint resistance only arousing him. "You still find me beautiful? You still appreciate my smile? Well, take a good look!"

Emma let out an angry cry or it was more of a roar of extreme frustration, feeling helpless fighting against him and that bestial rage boiling inside of her. There had always been that darkness inside of her she had kept at bay. And she knew if she would give into her animal instinct now there wouldn't be turning back. "I can't believe I actually felt sorry for you. You truly are nothing but a monster!" she gruffed, clenching her teeth, trying to free her hands as he was holding on both of hers with one of his.

"A monster?" That word stung Loki and his breathing was shivering with fury. "Well then maybe, if this is what it takes to break your will, I will take you out there in the cold like a proper monster of Jotunheim. I will crumble down your boundaries. You will learn to respect me as you king!" Loki rasped out, the intensity of cruelness in his gaze giving her a real reason to be afraid. "You will learn your place," he whispered into her ear, brushing her soft, cool cheek with his lips, pulling her head closer to him.

He still might have been a prince of Asgard but there were no more rules to bind him to any code. He could freely become the true god of mischief, maybe even the god of malice, taking whatever he wanted, starting with her and later taking her whole world. The woman had been his prey from the very beginning, and he had already prolonged his self-claimed right on her long enough. For a mortal, she was everything he desired from a female, and he was going to make her his own.

Emma could smell him. His strangely savory scent was stirring up her mind as well as her body. He smelled so damn good and she hated him for that. She felt the waves of heat running through her as if preparing her for the inevitable. She couldn't felt anymore mixed up; his husky voice and his lips on her skin made her body aching for him, willing for his to take and yet the rest of her was still going on the battle, abhorring to be touched without her will. He couldn't do this to her. She was not going to let him. She would have rather died than let him force himself on her. She bit her teeth together to stop her mouth from trembling. "Loki, if you'll harm me, I swear I will take you down with me! I'll drive you straight into a mile deep ice canyon!" she groaned from between her teeth in resistance, sounding as stern as she managed. _It was time to set the beast loose._

The god of mischief eased his grip on her a bit and gazed at her questioningly, the cruelty slowly fading away from his face, his emerald eyes glancing at the vehicle behind her. "With that thing?" he asked a bit puzzled, thinking how she could possibly drive him off from a great glarier with that sluggish vehicle, him sitting there with her.

"Do not think for a moment that… that I wouldn't… I would…"

Loki noticed from Emma's eyes that she had also realized her minimum chances to fulfill her monstrous threat, and their dark debate took a turn to brighter direction.

"Was that the absolutely worst you could think of?" he asked frowning, and it looked like she tried to think of something cleverer to say.

Loki let out a laugh, eased more of his grip, letting her hands free, only holding his hand on the back of her neck and her against the vehicle with only the lightened weight of his body. Her golden curls felt soft on his palm. He laughed, not mischievously anymore but cordially. The best laughs he had have in ages. He lifted his eyes at hers and stroked her cheek gently with the back of his fingers, a small glint of passion still lingering in his bold but soothed gaze.

He took a breath before saying a word. "I like you," he stated playfully and bit his lower lip, chuckling softly and watching how Emma beheld him looking alarmed. She had done wisely to fear him, but maybe he didn't want that anymore. He liked her spirit, and she had found a way to make him laugh. He had so needed that. It was only yesterday when he had lost everything and nearly died, chosen to let go. Now he craved for the feeling of being alive again, and she had made his blood surging hot and fiercely through his veins again. "Perhaps I judged you too hastily. Do not fear me, pet," he whispered, his voice turning softer. He had no real reason to harm her. Besides he wanted to spare his most vicious deeds just for Jane Foster.

Messed up by his scary, capricious behavior Emma let out a small breath, still handing between him and the vehicle. "Wha..?"_ What the hell was he up to?_ "You're a serious nutcase!" she snarled and clenched her fist to hit him. _A hard punch to his Adam's apple and then an unmerciful kick to his balls should do the trick._

Loki closed his palm over her fist before she managed to punch him with it and gave a tiny laugh at her attempt to hit him. "You are persistent. Good! I wouldn't have it any other way," he said in an appreciating tone. He would have truly hated it if she would have yield without a fight, throwing herself at his feet begging for mercy.

The situation and the feelings aroused by her were quite novel to him. Though, he wasn't going to come away from it empty-handed. His confident smile turned into uncertain seriousness as he hesitantly leaned closer and claimed a kiss from her smooth lips. Emma winced, unable to pull back, his hand still behind her head, his mouth meeting hers uninvited. All she was able to do was a suppressed shriek of protest as he gently tasted her. Loki released his mouth from hers for a moment, only to see her lovely sky blue eyes. There was uncertainty in her gaze as she beheld him eyes wide open nearly holding her breath, no fear, no hatred, but great confusion in her look.

Emma's forehead furrowed as she stared at him from only a few inches away, the tenderness of his kiss taking her by a surprise after all of his awful threatening. "W-what do you think you're doing?" she whispered shivering into his mouth. She placed her hands against his shoulders to push him away which didn't work.

A small smile flickered on the corner of his mouth. She could have screamed him to stop, she could have fought back harder, she could have cursed him, but no, so he let it continue. Loki returned to her lips, caressing her mouth with his, feeling her quickly risen resistance fading away, slowly, melting like ice from between them. With a deeper kiss, her hands stopped fighting him and she returned his kiss, opening to him little by little. She tilted her head to the side, giving in to him, giving into the long kiss entirely as if her life would have depended on it. Never had he kissed anyone like that. She was an enticer too good to resist. He gave a low, approving moan in her mouth, before drawing back and letting her go gently, lowering her back on her feet. She tasted sweet and he yearned for more, but that was it for now. She was worth more than be taken like a beast. Maybe it was her fighting spirit that made her so appealing in his eyes, that and the flame that had just flared within her. He knew he could make it burn even brighter with ardent passion if she would let him.

Loki caressed once more her cheek, touching her lips with his fingers. "My fierce Valkyrie," he said softly with a subtle smile. It would have been idiotic to call her an angel but a Valkyrie could have matched her beauty and the fierce fighting spirit. He had heard all the stories about valkyries, who were said to been heavenly beautiful, virtuous, elite female warriors who took fallen heroes to Valhalla and pledged undying fidelity to the Asgardian king. _Yes, a Valkyrie would do perfectly._

_That was it? _Taken aback by his kiss and her own reaction to it, Emma took a long breath, taking her hands off him, and remained leaning against the truck, unsure would her feet still carry her when his support wasn't holding her. She had met the both side of him; the dark and cruel as well as the affectionate and appealing, it had been the second one that had melted her resistance. His stolen kiss had been like fire, sending the heat through her body with a way that she had never thought could be possible. _That was it? He wasn't going to hurt her?_

"Thank you," Emma sighed, feverishly, unsure was she thanking him for not harming her or for the kiss that had blew her mind away. She was just trying to get over what had happened. She hadn't kissed anyone in eight years, and that had felt like a recompense for all she had missed in the dating frontier. _Oh, how pathetic she was! That freaking alien could have raped her but after his kiss she acted like a teenager in hormones. What the hell was wrong with her?_

There were not even a trace of anger or resentment left in Loki's gaze as he watched at Emma curiously, taking a couple of steps backwards and opening the truck's door for her. "Should we continue?" Loki asked and saw how she turned her heated gaze at him looking worried. "The journey," he clarified with a tiny chuckle, "I meant the journey." He bit his tongue between his lips, tasting her mouth on his lips. "Unless...?"

"Ahh...No! We'll… we'll continue the journey!" Emma shoved herself in motion. "Most definitely. Let's get going!" she reassured, unable to sound casual. She gave him a sideways look, puzzled, how could she go normal from here. He had nearly forced himself on her and now he acted like nothing had happened. _Damn sick bastard! _

Her own worse threatening had been so lame and pathetic that he must had laughed off his boner and let her go. She couldn't tell which one was closer; a hysterical laugh or fearful cry, tears brimming in her eyes. He had called her a Valkyrie. _Was that supposed to be a compliment or a gentle way of saying that she was a raging bitch? Didn't he tell earlier that all the valkyries were supposed to be dead? Oh, yeah, that really felt comforting._ He had surely silenced her and she was getting angry for him treating her that way. _A king, my ass! _

She went for the shovel that lied on the snow a few steps away and cautiously first kicked it to make sure it wasn't turning into a serpent again before picking it up. Seemingly comfortable of the outcome, Loki kept his eyes on her, finding her reactions towards him entertaining. As she picked up the shovel, he noticed her giving him a small glare, her cheeks burning red by anger and embarrassment.

Loki answered it with a smile before she said anything. "Looking for a rematch?" he asked softly, holding the door open for her.

After gathering herself and her courage, she lifted the shovel towards him as if for a warning. "Do not touch me! Do not ever touch me again!" she said in an undertone and went to put the shovel back in the trunk. "Or you'll find this from the part of you where the sun doesn't shine," she snapped with a whisper, not meant him to hear it.

"I heard that!" Loki informed calmly. He was starting to like her more. He could have had her if he would have wanted to. Oh, he would have wanted to, but not like this. There was still that much morals left in him that he wouldn't go ravishing young maidens. Frigga would have never forgiven him that.


	5. 5 On the brink of falling

Thor seems to have something against this fic because there have been some serious thunders here on the countryside where I live, and I haven't been able to use computer in a few days.

Thank you for favorites and for following this fic. Hope you enjoy.

**... ... **

A Quinjet speeded over the magnificent pure white glacier. Clint Barton sat next to their pilot, eyes sharp, looking for their targets. When the snowstorm was finally over they had been airborne fast and heading after the malevolent demigod Loki.

Barton glanced at the screen in the front control panel over his pilot shades. It still showed no heat sources on the ground. No traces at all. He contacted the second team in another quinjet. "Anything yet?" Barton asked.

"No, sir. There is no sign of them here. And we are at the coast already."

"Alright. Return and keep looking," Barton said and then contacted agent Coulson who had stayed behind, cleaning up the mess in the research facilities.

Coulson answered quickly. "Barton, tell me you have found them."

"Sorry, sir. The blizzard has wiped off all their traces. Are you sure they were meant to be heading straight to the west? It's nothing here."

"Yes. Due west is the only safe route to the coast and to the nearest town. According to Mr. Vuori, Emma Morgan was fully aware of that. I don't believe she would go risking her life by trying to take another route. They should be somewhere there heading west."

"Fine. We'll keep looking."

**… …**

After long awkwardly silent moments, Emma had come into a conclusion that the trickster god was really a mean, devious prick who enjoyed messing up with others and tormenting them with his devilishly frolicsome pranks. _Cursed to be that being who had given him the looks and voice of an angel,_ she thought. Loki had fooled her, making her to fall for his sweet talks and the kiss that still made her heart racing if she dared to think about it. She did her best not to and just concentrated driving, ignoring his attempts of engaging her into a conversation with some witty remarks. It would have been so easy to be infatuated with him. That is if she wouldn't have had to worry about that he might have actually killed her in a whim. She found his mood swings very confusing and scary, but reflecting that what he had told her about his past she couldn't completely blame him though. Things like that would have probably messed up the best of us, she reasoned.

Sitting on his side of the seats (as Emma had not dared him to cross the invisible line between them ever again), Loki watched her struggling with the emotions he had left her with. The kiss, he admitted, wasn't considered his normal reserved and calculating behaviour. Neither was the outburst that had nearly driven him forcing himself on her. A part of him regretted that. He would have never behaved like that back in Asgard, no matter if he would have been sitting on the throne. He hardly recognized himself now from what he'd used to be. He had strayed far from the composed, obedient Odin's son he once was. Now being a troubled, tormented soul without means to return what he had been. Everything had changed from the moment he found out the truth about his real parentage. And if he was to survive in this world of mortals there was no turning back to the old. A desire for revenge was his fuel that drove him now. No matter how deep in the sense of insecurity he wallowed he wouldn't settle for anything less than a throne.

Dusk was soon upon them and all Loki saw was snow and ice all around them. He was beginning to realize that their journey could easily take at least another day like she had told him. He gave another glance at his quiet companion, wishing her to say something, anything. He had liked their little talks. Those had given him something else to think about.

Loki dropped his gaze down for a few seconds and lifted it back at her again. "Join me in death?" he said as if for a dark suggestion.

"Huh?" Emma turned at him looking worried, afraid that he had freaked out again. She hadn't given him any reason for it this time.

Loki showed a cd disc's covers where he had read that line. There were also other names of songs scribbled down. He frowned questioningly. "Planet hell; very descriptive about this place. Over the hills and far away. Well, that what it seems where we are heading. Silver bride? Now that is something new," he murmured doing his best to read the handwritten scribbles. "What is this?"

Emma looked relieved even it took a moment to pull herself together. "That's ah… Peter's top ten favorite songs from his homeland… burned into a disc. When ever he felt homesick he used to listen that…"

"So, it is music?"

"Yeah. A bit dark and melancholic, making you want to split your wrists kind of stuff. Oh, you would love it! Let's play some!"

Loki gave her a scowl putting the covers down. She didn't even know how close to death he had been, willing to let go. It still pained him, but like always he hid his pain and uncertainty behind a veil of mischievous humor. "Are you still upset about the kiss?" he asked in a conciliatory tone.

_He had tricked her to talk._ Emma heaved a long, annoyed sigh, not bothering to look at him again. His beautiful green eyes were like poison. She couldn't afford to get lost in his gaze. It had been simply the best kiss she'd ever had, and it had been with a violent, mad, seductive alien. She had a lot to be upset about. "If you really want to know, I am upset because you nearly forced yourself on me, you threatened my life, you treat me with no respect and you are only making a big joke about it all."

"Would it be any consolation to you if I would say that I am sorry?" Loki asked carelessly, pleased that they were talking again. He could have said that he was sorry about everything he had put her through. But he never apologized for himself, not the way he would have really meant it. And she had challenged him, and lost.

"You just don't get it. I hate you no matter what you'd say."

Loki grinned, thinking about just the opposite. "Oh, could we not settle up this disagreement… kiss and make up?"

Emma bit her lower lip annoyed, keeping her eyes ahead, unable to understand the situation she was in with him. "Prick!" she murmured, hiding the word under a cough.

Black peeks of mountains reaching up from the never-ending ice far ahead caught Emma's attention as she keep driving, according to the compass, due west. The white scenery was slowly turning into a pink fairytale-land as the setting sun behind thin reddish clouds colored the world around them. The knolls and snow mounds all around cast long shadows, giving the right picture that the scenery wasn't flat but wavy like dynes of a desert with some smaller and bigger mounds.

Emma slowed down the speed, having a bad feeling. There was something about those far away mountain peaks and the direction of the shadows that didn't feel right.

"Something's wrong here," Emma pondered aloud. She got the most uneasy feeling in her gut as they were passing by yet another pointy mount and she hit the break, stopping the SnowCat.

Lazily Loki glanced outside and then at her. "Not enough snow for you?"

"The sun is setting soon… but the shadows are pointing into a wrong direction," she realized and glanced at the compass. It showed that they were heading due west but the sun seemed to go down in more of south than west. "The sun is setting in a wrong place."

"Well, that is unlikely," Loki remarked but then gave her a frown. "You are not trying to tell me that we are lost, are you?"

"I don't know," she said worry in he voice and picked up the compass from the dashboard. As she did that, the needle of the compass turned, correcting the direction. "What on earth? There is something that makes the compass malfunctioning. We don't use the GPS because if would screw up the readings of the radio telescope. Compass is calibrated correctly. It has always worked…" Emma explained moving the compass around in the cabin, the needle of it turning and pointing to her right. There was only one thing inside the truck that normally hadn't been there.

Emma closed her eyes, falling into a frustration. "Oh, no way…" she whispered and swallowed hard, turning at Loki. "Do you happen to have a magnetic field of your very own?"

"Why? Are you feeling irresistible attraction towards me?" Loki asked with a small grin as Emma stared at her compass that was pointing at him.

She lifted her seemingly worried but annoyed gaze at him slowly. "Yeah, right now my fist feels irresistible desire to punch you in the face," she snapped and jumped out from the truck, hoping the fresh air clearing her head. "Oh shit! We are so screwed here."

"So, we are lost! It's not end of the world. We will take the right course and keep going," Loki said lustily as he followed her outside, sounding suddenly like an eager boy scout.

_He was taking it awfully well_, Emma pondered, thinking had he done it deliberately. When he approached her, Emma noticed that the compass needle returned pointing straight towards him again. "Do you know what this is?" she asked showing him the compass like she would have been talking to a kid.

Loki glanced at her primitive instrument and snorted with an amusement. "Even the ancient Vikings knew what that is," he told in a way that showed him being offended by her demeaning question.

"Then you also must know why this small needle is not pointing to north as it should, but to you?" Emma asked, getting her ranting gear on. "You… you didn't bother to mention that perhaps you ate evil, magnetic cereals for breakfast from your golden bowl, while you we sitting on your big golden throne, pondering what to do up there in your perfect golden world. Then you came up with a great idea; _why not go spoiling some poor mortal's day. Hey, there's one! I'll just hop there and destroy her whole life, little by little. It'll be so much fun to see her suffer, it's not like she hadn't suffered enough already…_"

Loki narrowed his eyes and parted his lips before he really said anything, listening to her smartass whining that just kept going. "Are you quite done? Your ludicrous mewling is very vexing, and it is not helping us," he said as though he would have been the only adult of the two of them now.

Emma didn't have time to express her own annoyance when a sudden aloud cracking and growling sound caught their attention. The ominous voice carried from a far away and sounded like a clasp of thunder. They both froze for a second, staring at each other and then at the direction they had been heading, the very same where the sound had came from.

Loki swallowed, his worried gaze sweeping the reddening horizon. "What was that?" he asked cautiously, wondering had the beast of Jotunheim made its way on earth. Or maybe Thor was paying him a visit. _That wasn't good._

Emma didn't like the sound either but she at least had an idea what caused it. She had used to hear the glacier talking hauntingly; the ice growling under unbelievable pressure. But that had been something quite different. It had been a sound of huge solid ice breaking with a boom. A birth of a new baby iceberg? Or a crevasse? It seemed that they had been heading straight towards an ice fjord. _Definitely a wrong direction!_

"What's the matter, big guy? Is a Frost Giant scared of some ice?" she asked sounding careless, which she was not. And even less so as she saw Loki giving her a mean glare, hoping she could have taken it back.

Loki found nothing amusing about his true origin, and Emma making fun about that rubbed him up the wrong way, making him regret he had told her about his Jotun parentage. "What did you just say to me?" he asked in a low, dark tone, walking towards her and she was moving backwards away from him suddenly alarmed.

She wished no rematch with him. She had had enough of his dark side for that day. "Look, sorry… I say stupid things when I'm nervous… Don't blow a fuse now! I didn't mean anything…"

Very uncomfortable feeling filled Emma's heart as she felt a small shake under her feet like the snowy ground would have given in a bit. She stopped moving and froze where she stood, lifting her fear-filled eyes from the snow at Loki who strode towards her. "Don't come any closer!" she whispered to him, raising her hands at him with a hope to stop him.

Bad-tempered expression on his face only grew deeper as Loki approached her. "Have you not yet learned that you are in no position to tell me what to do?"

"Please, listen to me…" Emma begged in a silent voice. She didn't even dare to move.

Loki lifted his finger at her. "No! Now you will listen, you little…"

As Loki stepped closer to her, the snowy surface gave in under his weight more than it felt comfortable. He saw from Emma's terrified look that they were in serious trouble just before they both begun to fall with the snow that broke under them. The forever blowing wind had drifted a solid frozen bridge over the width crevasse that was now unveiled.

Loki's survival instincts worked fast while he was falling inside the ice canyon, seeing nothing but the light-blue wall scurrying around him. He conjured two daggers and stabbed them hard on the icy wall. Biting into the solid clear ice like two lifesaving anchors, the daggers held him, stopping him falling. His body jerked by the force of sudden stop and he was left hanging there by both hands. Without really thinking much, he reached his right arm as far as he could and managed to grab a tight hold from Emma's left wrist as she was dropping pass him, screaming. She slammed against the ice wall in his grip, letting out a grunt of pain, her screaming ending with the thud.

Loki cast a worried glance down at her, holding her with one hand and hanging from the dagger with another against the wall that exuded coldness. The six feet width ice canyon gaped under them like a mouth of a gigantic beast waiting to swallow them into its bottomless belly. He saw how the snow that had broken under them kept falling into the darkness of the endless pit below. The canyon continued miles and miles on both sides to his left and right. He looked up and getting back there was at least twice of his height. The wall was nearly vertical in both ways, lacking any juts or overhangs to take a grip or rest.

Hanging again above a cold abyss gave him a nasty reminder of his very last moment in Asgard. He could hear Odin's voice in his ears: _"No, Loki!"_

It had been so easy to let go, leaving it all behind. He had not truly belonged there anyway. But nothing had become any easier after it. The dark thoughts were lurking in the back of his head, eagerly to come out to play, and it was tossing him into an emotional turmoil. _This is the end… They know what I have done… Just let go…_

_"__My son, do not let go!"_

For a moment he thought he heard Frigga's gentle voice echoing in his mind as though she would have been there on the Rainbow Bridge with him. He could see her standing there, reaching her hand down at him with a look that was pleading and encouraging at the same time.

_"__Do not let go, Loki!"_

Then he snapped out from it, the phantasm leaving him like a fading illusion, tears brimming in his eyes. He couldn't tell had it really been Frigga visiting him with a projection of herself or was he starting to seeing things. But now he could hear that it was Emma's voice that spoke to him.

"Please, Loki, don't let go!" she begged, her voice trembling hard. She was holding from his hand with hers, her head on the level of his boots. Her every small whimper and sob echoed inside the icy canyon. "Loki, please..."

He was the only thing keeping her safe above the certain death and he was literally holding her life in his hands. His tight hold was hurting her wrist but she found it as a better option than being a lifeless mass on the bottom of that crevasse. She had looked down and it had been a big mistake. The canyon seemed to continue forever down, the whiteness of the ice walls fading to blue the lower the walls continued down and then turning completely black where lights didn't reach anymore. It was soon getting dark, and she couldn't bear the thought of hanging there in the pitch-black night.

With a small groan Loki pulled his arms a bit to ease his muscles, the stretch starting to feel in his body. In his right hand she felt light but his left arm was begging for mercy as it was holding them both. He watched down at her with a glint of sorry in his serious face, knowing now he should have listened to her warning. He wasn't happy about their current situation but she looked simply scared to death. He couldn't blame her though. So was he but he didn't want to let it show, and he let out a rough groan again.

"You are sending very confusing signals here. First you did not want me to touch you and now you are begging me not to let go of you. My dear, you have to make up your mind!" he snapped sarcastically, dangling her in his grip.

Emma answered to him with a pleading look, terrified of him letting her go now. He realized that she didn't find his joke amusing at the moment so he gave her a convincingly compassionate smile. "It is alright. I swear to you, everything is going to be alright, Emma Morgan," he assured in a strong voice that hid well his sense of hesitation and insecurity, the surrounding canyon giving his voice a godlike echo. He glanced up once more with a thought. "I am going to swing you up there, so ease your grip on me."

Emma gasped when he begun swaying her back and forth. "No, no, no! No swinging! There's at least 15 feet up there. I can't… I can't…" she whimpered in panic. _That was impossible._

Loki grimaced, his nose wrinkling as he concentrated hard, hoping the dagger to hold them long enough. "Trust me! You must let go or this will not work!"

"Trust you?" Emma screamed. "You damn trickster! Would you even trust yourself on this one?"

Loki glanced at her, a tiny grin rising on his uncertain face. "Well, I trust you to give us a kiss if we both would survive out of this one. Right, my Valkyrie?" he smirked and prepared for the swing. He had to do it right. There were no second changes. "When I say now, you will let go. You understand? Are you ready?" he rasped out.

"No! No way in hell!"

"You will do it, woman, or I will shake you off right now!"

"Jesus Christ! You are insane! You are a fucking psycho!" Emma screamed in panic, only tightening her grip on him.

Loki frowned but was going to ignore her words. "So, are you ready?"

"Fine! Yes, you loony! I'm so going to die!"

"I swear I will not let you die," Loki reassured, not feeling so sure about it. "Let go, now!" he shouted roughly and with one more sway for speed Loki put everything at stake, fiercely flinging her upward and releasing his grip from her wrist. His dagger slipped off the wall and he begun falling again. He hated falling, the helpless sensation of having not control of anything. A dagger still in his left hand, he conjured a throwing knife to his right hand, and hit them both hard onto the wall. They held and he was safe again, but only barely. Then he lifted his gaze up, watching Emma flying up in the air screaming. Loki panted mouth open in uneasiness, steadying his own swinging on the icy wall, following her with his gaze as long as she remained on his sight a couple more seconds.

She was practically catapulted up from the crevasse by his force, reaching 4 feet above the snowy ground before belly-landing on the edge of the icy cliff, her upper body and right leg on the safety of the firm solid glacier, only her left leg hanging over the edge. The landing impact knocked the wind out of her and when hitting her pubic bone hard against the edge of the cliff she believed she got some kind of clue how it must felt when a guy got a kick on his balls. She rolled further away from the edge to safety, squirming on the snow in pain lying on her back. She knew the pain wouldn't last long but she thought about shoving snow down in her pants to relieve the aching while her breathing returned to normal. Her left wrist was still hurting and Loki's rough spin had only made it worse, but she was thankful she was alive.

The sun was setting lower and the opposite sky was already getting darker. Not believing it had actually worked, Emma let out a tiny giggle while jolting up and groveling on the edge, gazing down at Loki who struggled with climbing up with his weapons. It looked anything but easy. Gaping down again, made Emma feeling dizzy. "It worked!" she yelled in a great relief but then got worried for his sake. "Are you alright? Can you make it?"

Some loose, fine snow fell down on Loki as Emma moved on the edge far above him. He blew the snow off from his face and watched up at her from 22 feet away now. He wasn't even there yet where he had left his other dagger. "A little help? Please?" he panted in a pledging tone, looking somehow helpless for a big mean deity, and hanging like a large black and green bat from the white wall.

"Okay…" Emma whispered, unwilling to go dangling there again, thinking hard how to reach to him. "There's a rope in the truck. I'll get it, you don't go anywhere!" she said and crawled up on her feet, hurrying to the trunk, pain in her crotch.

"Was not planning to!"

The left hand's dagger slipped off the icy wall again and Loki grunted, pulling himself up and thrusting the weapon again on the ice with force that caused the ice cracking around the dagger. "Hurry!" he shouted after her.

He pondered would he hear the vehicle's engine roaring and roaming away or maybe even straight towards him down into the pit like she had threatened to drive him into an ice canyon. He came into a conclusion that she might have been just that mad to do it. He might have pushed her over the edge in emotional level with his teasing. "Damn!" he sighed in a shivering voice and lifted his worried eyes up.

Frantically Emma tied the rope around the SnowCat's front tracks, and secured it, since there was no bumper in the truck, thinking that she had to be mad for not shoving the shovel into his face and driving the whole vehicle at him. She could have gotten rid off him for good. From the bottom of that crevasse he wouldn't have been tormenting her anymore and she might have actually done a great favor to the world by letting him rot in there. But she just couldn't do it and she knew she might live long enough to regret it. After all he had saved her life and she felt it as her obligation to return the favor.

With hasty steps she returned on the edge with the rope. "I'm here. I brought the rope," she informed breathing quickly in distress and carefully throwing the rope down. "Come on, Loki! You can do it! " she encouraged him, peeking cautiously down. She looked all the way down of the dizzying vertical wall but there was no sign of him there anymore like he would have just...

"Loki?" Emma shouted, dismay growing inside of her, staring down of the empty canyon. Her own echo was the only sound answering to her. _It was too late?_ In a shock she slumped down sitting on her knees, her hands beginning to shake, and her throat tightening. "Loki," she whispered with a trembling voice, unable to understand that he'd had plunged down after saving her. "Oh god… oh no…"

She felt sick on her stomach and she sat a bit further away from the edge, rubbing her aching wrist and closing her eyes, pondering could he still be alive down there and what was she supposed to do now.

"Did you miss me already?" Loki's voice asked sounding exhausted, sugared with a sprinkle of irony, and accompanied with a long tired exhale.

His voice startled Emma and she glanced at him over her shoulder, seeing him sitting on front of the tracks of the SnowCat facing her. "Loki?" Tears rushed into her eyes when she noticed that he was fine, that annoying smug grin on his face. On that moment she wasn't relieved or happy to see him, she was mad as hell as she crawled up on her feet, one hand holding onto her aching crotch.

"Ohh, I did not realize you missed me that much," Loki sighed wittily and gave her a curious, enticing look.

Emma snorted and went to him, shaking her head in disbelief. "You mean, sick bastard!" she said under her breath in an upset tone, stepping in front of him a frenzy gleam in her wet eyes.

"Is that your way of thanking me for saving your life?" Loki asked with a mild smile, watching upwards at her while sitting. He had saved her, and he expected a bit more than that for thanks. He had given all he could to pull himself up just in case she would carry out her threatening to kill him. _How was he supposed to trust anyone but himself?_ He wasn't going to give her a pleasure of getting rid off him that easy.

"I thought you died!" Emma said furiously. And for a moment it looked like she was going to slap him in the face, her hand rising but instead of smacking him, she touched his cheek softly. It was a move Loki had not been prepared, his hand already around her wrist. His smile turned to doubt and then to slight bewilderment, his green eyes showing his wish for tenderness as she placed also her other hand on his face, touching him gently, hesitatingly moving closer, leaning to him and hunching a bit since he was lower than her while sitting.

Against his expectations, she pressed her mouth on his in a whim, giving him that damn kiss he had been asking for with his tease. She hadn't planned it to happen, but it felt good at the moment and he was a hell of a kisser. His face felt soft under her palms, his chin like it would have just been shaven. His lips were thin but perfect and he knew how to use them.

Loki closed his tired arms around her in a wonder, feeling the warmth of her mouth on his lips and the passion in her kiss. _She had taken his jesting about the kiss seriously but he wasn't complaining._

Her unsolved issues of intimacy made his tightening hold feeling uncomfortable around her and she pulled away from him. Loki was left for yearning more, staring into her eyes in a bit of awe when she drew back from him.

"That was for saving my life," Emma said with a fervent whisper and then gave him the hard slap in the face abruptly. "And that was for you being such a mean dick sometimes," she continued, taking a few steps back, shaking her stinging palm.

Loki let out a short uneasy chuckle and watched her as she circled him, taking a seat behind him on the SnowCat's tracks. He couldn't be happier for being alive. That kiss had made his day and he was going to let that slap go unnoted in the current situation. It hadn't even really felt anything but a small stinging on his cheek. The trickster god turned sitting the same way Emma was, beholding her with a fondly, intrigued smile. "Hmm… I shall accept that for thanks."

Emma stared at the pink-purple horizon colored by the sun that had just sunk beyond the horizon. _It had been a damn fool thing to kiss him_. "By the way, we lost the compass," she said awkwardly and glanced at him quickly, returning her timid eyes at the sunset, trying to get a grip of herself, rubbing her sore wrist.

Loki lifted his eyes up at the darkening sky. It was going to be a clear night. Faint waves of the green flames were fluttering on the northern dark sky. He liked those colors. "It is alright. We can navigate by the stars," he assured and couldn't resist the desire to wrap his arm around her shoulders. She sat there next to him like a small bird and he took her under his wing.

Emma winced when she felt his arm around her, already regretting that she had encouraged him with that kiss and aroused his temper with the slap. "Please, don't to that." Her voice was small like it would have more been a prayer than a request.

Loki pulled his hand away reluctantly, honoring her wish for this once. "Are you going to start this again?" he asked, thinking wasn't it a bit too late for her playing hard to get.

"It is not you. It is just that…" Emma's breathing was shivering. _Of course it was because of him, and then again, he had nothing to do with it._ "I can't stand people touching me." She was quiet for a moment. "I don't want anyone coming too close to me. That's why I have loved this place. Here aren't too many people around and the geeks I work with are as eager hugging that I am."

Then the fact entered intro her mind that she couldn't go back working in to the research unit anymore, not after what had happened there. They would see her as a freak now and in the worst scenario someone would come after her again taking her away to be locked up. She was going to miss that place. And what if something really bad had happened to her boss, Scott Davis? What if he died? They would blame her. She pushed those thought off her mind. She just needed to survive out of this one alive and see where it gets her. Loki was the only thing she should have been worried about at the moment.

She glanced at him again and noticed that he had been staring at her a while in silence listening. "Do you think we could we just sit here for a while?"

"Of course," said Loki, his voice strangely radiating compassion like he wouldn't have ever had a mean bone in his body. He could read between the lines that someone had hurt her, maybe more severely that he had. But he didn't want to go digging her painful memories, he had enough dealing to do with his own. Though, it seemed they had things in common; neither of them didn't let people come too close, both of them had something to hide, both of them had been wronged by their families. Loki realized he could have gone on that list a long while.

He noticed her scooping up some snow and pressing it on her left wrist. A momentarily flash of sincerity went thought him and a small concern flinched on his face. "I am sorry if I hurt you," he said giving a tiny nod towards her hand when she turned at him.

That was the first sorry he'd said, and it puzzled her. "You are? It's ah… it's alright. Just strained wrist. I have had worse. It'll be as good as new soon."

There was a bit remorse and guilt in his eyes. "It is a good thing you heal fast," Loki said and closed his palms together, his elbows leaning to his knees. He gave her (and to himself) some time to be quiet, taking a breath and only admiring the frozen scenery in nearly imaginary colors.

They just sat there unsure, like thinking what the hell to do next, the width crevasse, miles long maybe even dozens of miles long, making it impossible to continue their journey forward. It was a breathtakingly beautiful sunset, the colors slowly fading away and the evening turning darker. He could understand now why she liked the place. Even in its cruelest form the glacier showed them its beauty. A shared close to death experience had a way to turn one's thoughts to the right tracks, momentarily at least.

Cold gusts of wind played with her long hair and she tried to restraint them. He could have just gotten up and get it himself but Loki conjured the blanket from the truck into his grip and placed it gently over her shoulders as if she would have been asking for it. "Here," he said with a soft whisper as if an act of apology.

They exchanged looks like it would have been the very first time they'd had ever laid eyes at each other.

"Um… Thanks," Emma sighed, confused. She wouldn't have needed the blanket for warmth but it blocked away the wind nicely and she pulled it tighter around her. It had been a kind gesture from him, a bit too nice from an alien creature who had kept threatening her for a day. "And, thank you for saving my life."

"No. Thank you," Loki said softly and glanced at the rope fastened to the vehicle's tracks and turned his eyes to her again. "After all I have done to you, you would have really helped me. Why?" he asked, realizing he hadn't been the easiest companion to travel with.

"I guess I didn't have it in me to leave you down there… but you seemed to managed fine without me."

A grin visited his lips and disappeared, Loki taking one more deep breath. "Perhaps I jumped into conclusions, expecting you to ram that vehicle down on me."

Emma bit her lips, fighting off a grin. "Yeah… I thought about it," she admitted with an apologetically grimace.

They glanced at each other a little bemused, Loki gawping at her. "You must be the most indecisive person I have ever met," said Loki in a joking manner, and after seeing each other's expressions they both let out tiny, confused laughs.

Emma couldn't really decide which side of him scared her more; '_the dark and mean treating her unfairly_ one' or _that sweetly compassionate behaving like a dream_ one' she was soon falling for. Maybe his scary side was just a build up shelter, a survival mechanism of some soft, protecting the more vulnerable softer side of him. His life hadn't been the easiest one, she reasoned. "So, perhaps we both worked out of character here. Could we just agree that none of this ever happened?" she said and swallowed in uneasiness.

Confusion in Loki's gaze turned into a tiny grin revealing his mischievous side that hadn't gone anywhere. "I see why not. Everything will be returned to normal and you will find me tormenting you anew in no time," he assured, his eyes glimmering with a gentle tease.

Her forehead furrowed Emma gave him a small uneasy smile. "Right? Looking forward to it."

Loki beamed at her in a way that could have lighted up the whole northern glacier. He liked her humor. He saw no reason why not to like her. "Now than you mentioned it. I recall you insulting me with at least five different expressions a moment ago…"

"Um, yeah… about that…"

"You say stupid things when you are nervous?"

"Oh, I was totally, extremely nervous," Emma swore, her voice giving away her nervousness again. "I may even have the Tourette syndrome. You know, I can't stop cursing…"

Loki chuckled at her slightly worried expression and she let out an uneasy laugh with him. "I am sorry… I was only teasing you," he admitted with an apologetic grin. Maybe he should have tried to be less thin-skinned from now on.

"You're one sick puppy," Emma murmured shaking her head smiling. Maybe in somewhere very deep down he wasn't that bad he had let her to believe. _That mean, beautiful, divine prick!_

_**... ...** _

By the way, have you already counted how many different ways Emma has called him mad?


	6. 6 A visitor

"Sir, the NASA satellite picked up a vehicle moving on the glacier about 250 miles to south-west from here."

Agent Coulson lifted his drooping head and glanced at the agents around him checking has anyone noticed him being between the dream and reality for a while. He had closed his tired eyes only for a moment. "So, we have found them," Coulson stated and picked up his empty coffee cup with a frown.

The NASA's research unit was turned into an S.H.I.E.L.D.'s operations center and all the agents who had arrived to Greenland were packed tightly into a small mess hall, some eating supper, some working with their laptops.

Clint Barton jumped up from his seat. The Quinjet teams had returned at the facilities at the nightfall after the unfruitful searching mission. "We'll go after them now?" Barton asked and a few more agents got up on their feet too.

A short-haired, blonde female agent entered the room, glancing at the tired looking group. Agent Catherine Lawson had been working in the unit in a few occasions as a doctor and she knew the glacier better than most of them. "Well, I suggest you'll go after them in the first light," she said lazily and the agents turned at her.

"We can't wait any longer. This Loki could get away from Greenland!" an agent next to Barton said.

Agent Lawson gave him a dry smile. "This is one hell of a big glarier, gentlemen. They are not going to get away from it in one more night. Besides they are in a whole wrong direction. That way is full of ice fjords, without possibilities reaching to the coast. Agent Coulson, your men are tired. You'll face better chances after some sleep, in day light."

"Yeah. I second that. All agents with level 6 or higher hit the sack! The rest will be working in turns," Coulson said and went to the agent who had awoken him. "Let's keep tracking that vehicle with the satellite. I want its coordinates from every hour."

"Yes, sir."

**… …**

The night was dark but clear, the millions and millions stars were shining bright on the black sky. It was as though the whole universe would have been gazing down at them when Loki and Emma kept driving on the glarier. They hadn't the slightest idea that they were actually followed by someone from up there.

Their journey had continued in a whole different atmosphere in an amicably way, Loki behaving kindly towards her, and momentarily Emma had forgotten what he was and why she was taking this trip with him in the first place. What had happened in the ice canyon and after that had made a huge difference in the way they saw each other now. And she didn't feel so intimidated by him anymore. He had given his word to her that no harm would come to her anymore. And she had liked to believe him, that much of a fool she was.

The SnowCat crawled forward loyally, the headlights granting some light in the night. They sat in the darkness of the cabin only with the little light that reflected back from the snow. Loki's dark figure seemed thoughtful as he stared up at the starry sky like he would have been longing back home, his head against the side window.

The driving had become tiresome and it was easier to stay sharp and awake while chatting. "What do you miss the most?" Emma asked, breaking the silence again. She had liked when Loki had told her about his life in Asgard.

Loki turned at her a bit confused, taking a better seat. "I beg your pardon?"

"From Asgard? Is there something you miss the most from your life back there?"

A dozens of things whirled in his mind, those memories, happy memories of his family. The small smile that played across his face with those thoughts faded and his expression clouded. "My whole life there was nothing but a lie. It would be foolish to miss any of it," he said then in a bitter tone.

"No, it would be normal to miss it. It would be normal to be angry and mourn…"

"To a mortal maybe," Loki remarked, yet knowing she was right. He was angry and he in his own way mourned tremendously.

Emma frowned to that. "So, are you telling me there is nothing you would have wanted back?"

"The throne," Loki answered quickly, his voice pitching up. "That belonged to me."

"If you say so," she doubted. "Hey, you wouldn't want to take the wheel for a while?"

"No thank you. I do the navigation. You do the driving," Loki answered and cast his gaze once more up searching for the Northern Star and a few constellations. They were all up there in the right directions. His job was easy.

Just without a warning someone emerged in front of them into the light cone of the headlights. All that Emma managed to see was a fair female figure standing in the snow right before them. Emma stopped the truck in a shock, fearing she had hit her. Her eyes rounded by a fright as she stared through the windshield. There was no-one there anymore. It was like it would have been a ghost. She hadn't expected anyone roaming in the night out there on the glacier. She hadn't even been prepared to looking out for pedestrians.

"Oh god… I hit someone!" she cried out, pulling on the handbrake and gazing at Loki. _That's just what they needed! _A hit-and-run or alternatively they would have to drag an injured woman with them.

With an unbelieving expression Loki stared at the empty snowy scenery in the headlights like he had seen a ghost. That glimpse of a woman he had seen had struck him speechless. He turned at Emma with a great confusion in his eyes and swallowed. "You saw it too?" he asked cautiously just to be sure he wasn't seeing things this time.

"There was a woman…" Emma gasped and was opening the door.

"Loki," a gentle woman's voice spoke from the backseat and they both gazed over their shoulders, Emma startled letting out a tiny cry of fear and Loki in a wonder recognizing the voice.

"Mother?" the god of mischief sighed in a soft, sorrowful voice, facing Frigga who sat on the backseat, her illusional projection illuminating the dark cabin around her.

Emma gawped at the beautiful woman who looked at least twice of her age. She had kind, gentle face, her long golden hair was partly down the other part braided over her head like a crown and she wore royal-blue long dress. "M-mother?" Emma mouthed glancing at Loki with a silly, puzzled frown. Emma didn't know how had the woman gotten there but she didn't really care. She was thankful she had killed anyone. At least that's what she hoped. The lady was illuminating in a bit spooky way, though.

Frigga beheld her son with a loving way, tears glimmering in her bright eyes. "When your father told me the news, in my heart I still knew you would be alive, my son," the queen of Asgard said gently. Then she gave a glance at Emma with a kind smile and a bob of head as a greeting. And Emma answered that with a small wave of her hand bewildered.

Loki clenched his lips, more or less mortified, only his eyes glancing at Emma and then turning back at his mother. It was not that he would have been embarrassed of Frigga, quite the opposite. It was not that he wouldn't have been glad to see her, she was the only one he truly had missed, but after everything that had happened in Asgard and the situation they were now made the reunion feeling awkward and unwanted. And he truly wished that Emma wouldn't go telling Frigga anything about the phases of their colorful journey. He couldn't bear the thought that Frigga would find out what sort of monster he had turned out to be.

Loki cleared his throat and gave Emma a sideways glance. "Could you please give us a minute?" he asked from Emma. It sounded more of an order with a bit begging tone, though.

"Um, sure. I'll just… need to check up something anyway… outside," Emma stammered and pushed the door open.

"Would you really send her out there in the cold on her own?" Frigga asked a bit scolding from her son. "She is not even dressed warmly enough."

"She will be fine," Loki assured hastily and glanced at Emma offering her the blanket with a quick move. "Won't you?"

A bit amused, fighting off her grin, she threw the blanket around her shoulders. _It was just too weird. The big mean deity had his mother there for a visit and he looked suffering._ "Sure. I'll be fine."

"Have you lost your manners, Loki? Are you not going to introduce your new friend to me?" Frigga asked from her son with a motherly way, knowing very well that Loki wasn't any good of making new friends.

The embarrassment could have almost been touched in the air as Loki heaved a sigh, his royal manners and the presence of his mother forcing him to behave according to his status. He sat sideway on his seat so he wouldn't have to look at Frigga over his shoulder. "This is Emma Morgan, she is um… my guide here. Emma Morgan, meet Frigga, the queen of Asgard and my…" _Mother_. That's when it hit him. She wasn't his mother. He couldn't say that aloud. It wasn't so anymore. It had never been.

Both of the women understood his pain behind that unspoken word in their own way. So, Emma hurried to greeting the queen. "It is an honor to meet you, Your… Grace? Um… Majesty?"

"A pleasure to meet you, Emma Morgan. Please, you can call me Frigga."

"Would you leave us now?" Loki said to Emma with a small uncertain scowl. And she did as she was told, giving them a moment of peace, hopping out from the SnowCat in to the cold darkness and closing the door.

It pained Frigga that Loki had stopped calling her his mother. That what she still was and would always been. "So, am I not your mother anymore?" she asked sounding nearly heart-broken.

Loki lowered his gaze. "You never were…" The silent remorseful words dropped from his lips with a sad sigh, and already he wished he could have taken it back.

Those words were like twisting a knife in heart and the queen of Asgard hid her pain behind a small upset smile. "Hm, always so perceptive about everyone but yourself," she stated hurt in her voice.

Loki closed his eyes hoping to stop the disobedient tears from escaping. "I am…," he begun but his stubbornness came to stop him saying the word 'sorry'. He hadn't even imagined he would see Frigga again and it pained him to look so weak and yet full of hatred before her eyes. Even so she had always been the only one seeing him on his most vulnerable. "This is… not a good time…"

He noticed Emma wading in the snow in the cone of the headlights. She stumbled and fell, and Loki winched fearing she had found another crevasse. To his relief she rose up shaking off the snow from her clothes, probably cursing. Loki attention returned to Frigga when she spoke.

"She seems lovely. I hope I did not disturb anything…?" Frigga asked cautiously, only wanting to keep up the conversation.

Loki felt uncomfortable about the whole subject. "No. It is not as you may think. There is nothing between her and I," he assured doing his best to sound careless. If there was one topic in the whole world he would have never discussed with his mother about, that would have been his love-life in which he had no bragging to do.

"My dear, you do not need my approval for courting a young maiden."

Loki almost groaned. "It is nothing like that, I assure you."

Frigga met with his uncertain gaze and gave him an affectionate smile, her mother's instincts kicking in. "Well, like your brother said, you have always been a talented liar."

"Mother!" Loki cried out in an uneasy tone and only after saying it he realized what he had slipped out of his mouth. _She had tricked him to say it. _He still loved that woman nonetheless she wasn't his real mother.

"That was all I wanted to hear. You know that I have always been your mother, and I always will be no matter what you would do. You are as much my son to me as Thor is," Frigga said and leaned closer to him. Her understanding towards his little tricks and mischievous side had known no limits. But his later actions such as his attempt to destroy Thor and Jotunheim had been a bit too much for her to understand. She stared straight into his eyes. "Your father…"

Loki shook his head. "His not my father!" he roared and noticed that his outburst had caught also Emma's attention as she glanced towards them looking worried.

Frigga heard someone entering into her chambers in Asgardian palace and she had to let go of her spell. She gave one more look at her son, touching his cheek without really reaching him. "Do not think that it was by coincidence that you ended up in the world of mortals. Please, try to use your time here wisely, Loki," she whispered before she disappeared before his eyes in a fading golden glow.

"That is what I am planning to do," Loki murmured sitting alone in the darkness of the truck. He dropped his gaze down after her illusion was gone, waves of sadness and regret going through him. He missed her, he missed the good old times even how unfair his life had been back then. But there was no returned to that anymore. He awoke from his thoughts when he heard Emma knocking on the side window.

She opened the door ajar, glancing inside. Since the glow of Frigga's illusion had vanished she had dared to come back. "Is it safe to return?" she asked cautiously.

"Yes, of course. Please," the god of mischief said, still seemingly awkward about introducing Frigga and Emma to each other.

Emma jumped on to her seat, glancing once more over her shoulder, making sure they were there alone. The more she had learned about him the less it seemed she understood about him and his life. So, she didn't even try to understand it all completely.

"So, your mother…?" she begun, a little bit amused.

Even in the dim cabin Emma could see that Loki looked irritated. He raised his hand as if telling her to stop. "I would rather not talk about it."

"How did she get here? Is the rest of your family going to pop up too?"

"No. No-one else is coming. And she was not really here either. She sent a projection of herself to speak with me…"

"Like a long-distance-call, huh?"

Loki snorted but not meanly. "It is Asgardian sorcery she once taught me, a long ago."

Emma would have loved to tease him about his mother's visit because it seemed to bother him so much, making him awkward which was something new. But then she realized that perhaps there was something else he did miss from back home, other than the throne, more deeply than the throne. She watched at him a small moment starting to see more humane sides of him. He was so much more than just a mad, lost alien creature. Maybe not even so mad at all. "So, I'm your guide now?" she retorted gently to his earlier introduction.

Loki rolled his eyes. "Well, how would you have introduced me to your mother if she would have popped up here without a warning? Hm?"

"I wouldn't have ever introduced you to my mother."

"Why not? She would not approve me? You think I am not good enough…?" Loki asked slightly offended, and only then realized how his question sounded like. He bit his tongue between his lips just to stop himself saying any more. _What on earth had happened to his clear ability to consider his words carefully?_

"Oh, I'm sure she would have approved you. In fact, she probably would have tried to sleep with you," she grinned but then fell into a painful embarrassment, face-palming herself with both hands.

"Really?" Loki asked with an astonished grin.

"Yeah. She has a terrible taste in men."

Loki grinned more. "Like mother, like daughter?"

_Damn, she was cornered!_ "Um…?"

Loki let out a confused laugh and so did she. It had been a boldly suggestive, intimate, little chat and he had loved it.

Then Emma turned more serious. "Telling the truth, I haven't seen my mother in eight years."

That seemed a strange thing to Loki. It was not like she would have been on a different planet. "Why is that?"

She shrugged. "She couldn't have made it any clearer that she never wanted to see me again. After she figured out what I was."

"She told that to you?" Loki asked, a part of him sorry for her sake, thinking that Frigga had never treated him so cruelly even knowing what he was from the very beginning even she might have a reason for it in a few occasions.

"You remember those people I told you about who took me away to be tested? When I finally got away from them and returned home… It… ah… wasn't my home anymore. Our house that had been in our family since my grandparents build it was sold to strangers while I was gone. The neighbors told me that my mom had left with some new guy and sold our home. She hadn't told them where. The neighbor's lady gave me a box my mom had left there for me if I should return. There were some of my clothes and a couple of old toys, 600 dollars and a stupid note, saying 'I'm sorry'. My mom bought me out of her life with some lousy 600 bucks," Emma told, her voice beginning to quiver with sadness. "I guess it was better than nothing. The best allowance I had ever gotten. Now, how about that for a happy family?"

To Loki that sounded almost as cruel act as his own biological father's actions against him, when he was abandoned and left to die as a baby. Comparing to her mother, Frigga had been like a heaven-sent angel always standing up for him. "I am sorry to hear that," Loki told, his voice filled with sincere compassion. There wasn't much more he could do. But saying sorry was becoming easier to him.

Emma took a deep breath, not letting her emotions taking the control of her now. _Not now._ "Queen Frigga seems pretty perfect to me. I wish I would have had someone like her as a mother. My grandmother was like that but she died when I was twelve." She turned at him, the darkness all around making it hard to see his face clearly. "Sorry. This is stupid. I don't mean to bother you with my problems…"

Loki's fingers brushed over her right hand and she lowered her gaze to barely see that he settled his hand next to her on the seat as though offering it to her his palm upward. Without saying another word, holding her breath, Emma hesitatingly let her hand find his. His hand felt big, soft and warm and their fingers interlocked with each other. And it felt like there would have been an unspoken connection between them when their eyes met again.

Sitting there in the dark holding hands and not saying a word felt suddenly like they would have become dependent of each other on the frozen glacier. Two shattered souls had come together not for seeking comfort but finding some from one another in that cruel, mad world that had played them both unfairly.

Tears fell down on her cheeks. The strong feelings aroused by that moment scared Emma and she claimed back her hand cautiously and slowly, Loki letting her go. _Who could have known where it would have led them._

"Um… sorry. I…" she stammered. "Maybe we should keep driving. Who knows who would pop up next on the backseat."

Loki smiled to that a bit. "Maybe we should," he said softly and Emma put the vehicle in motion again. She had taken his hand for a moment and he knew it meant something significant for both of them. The emotional charging of that moment of holding hands had been almost stronger than when they had kissed. _The most important feelings had always been expressed without words_, he reasoned.

Loki thought it was an appropriate idea to forget about the sadness left by the shared painful memories, so he leaned a bit closer to her with a grin. "You wanted to know what I miss the most. That would be playing tricks to others. There was this one time I turned my brother Thor into a frog…" he begun with a voice that expressed perfectly his fondness for mischievousness.

Emma gave him a glance, already forgetting her sorrow because that had sounded insane. "You did what?"

"I turned him into a frog. You know a small, green, croaking creature? You have those here in Midgard, don't you?"

"Yeah, I know what a frog is. But…"

"Well, the whole Asgard was searching for him, nobody bothered to look down on their feet. You should have seen Frigga when she found out that I was behind that trick. I was grounded for a decade."

"Seriously? A… a decade? That's a bit tough love, don't you think?"

"Yes, and look how far it have gotten me."

They both burst out laughing.

"Sorry! That's terrible. I shouldn't be laughing…"


	7. 7 Some do battle… with tricks

Day two had dawned over the arctic wilderness. Loki stood next to the bright orange SnowCat, arms across over his chest and watching at Emma who had climbed on the roof of the truck with binoculars for a better view. "So, can you see anything from there?" Loki asked.

He was grumpy that he had dented the roof while trying to join her there, crushing the roof on his own side of the truck. These mortals' vehicles were poorly designed for someone his size and build. It was not that he would have been a clumsy, heavy brute. He considered himself of being just quite the opposite.

They had managed to return over 90 miles and taken a new route with the right heading to the safer direction, driving through the night, taking only a couple of short breaks. It was morning already and Emma had closed her eyes for a short moment before the sunrise. The old nightmares had awoken her and she had preferred to keep driving instead of trying to sleep again.

"There are no fjords. It looks safe, but that's all I can say. The ice canyons can be tricky like we found out last evening," Emma said as she sat on the roof of the vehicle, looking ill at ease, staring to the endless whiteness around them.

Loki leaned against the truck with one hand offering his other hand to help her down. He could tell there was something bothering her, other than the damage he had done to the vehicle. "What troubles you?" he asked when she lowered herself down from on top of the vehicle, accepting his help.

_Other than she was stuck there with him unsure would they make to the coast at all, just waiting when he would freak out again?_ She had really begun to like that softer side of him and never wished to meet the dark one again. Her short meeting with Frigga had only strengthened her believes that he wasn't all mean, bad-tempered creature.

"Well, even if we won't fall into a canyon, there is still one small problem, a couple of actually. At first, we might run out of fuel because we had to circle and I wasn't prepared for this journey properly," Emma told. "And next, I have no idea how to get you on to a flight to the States without IDs if we make it that far."

"That second one you can leave to me, but I cannot much help with the fuel. We should waste no time," Loki said and was about to move on his side of the truck when he sensed something approaching them fast from the east and took a glance over his shoulder. "Let me have that," he said nodding towards her binoculars and Emma gave them to him. He gazed through the optical instruments. "What are those?" he asked pondering in a curious tone.

"What do you mean? What do you see?" Emma asked looking at the same direction as he was.

Before they were visible to a mortal eye, the god of mischief saw two flying aircrafts, rocketing towards their direction high over the magnificent pure white glacier and he lowered the binoculars looking at them with bare eyes. Emma heard the sounds of the aircrafts when they kept approaching. "Sounds like jets."

Only a few seconds later, the Quinjets flew over the SnowCat and circled back a few rounds lowering altitude and remained hovering around it. Loki and Emma watched as the flying crafts flew over their heads. Interested Loki stepped close to Emma giving her the binoculars back as the Quinjets hovered lower and men in black combat outfits with big guns were dropping down from both of the jets. There was about 300 feet between the jets and the SnowCat.

"Oh shit!" Emma whispered more than worried, staring at the sudden rush of people in front of them. And the soldiers didn't look too friendly at first sights and she glanced at Loki, pondering were those soldiers there after him.

The aircrafts got Loki's full attention. "Please, tell me that you can fly one of those," Loki asked, pure excitement in his voice.

Emma had no idea who they were and where had they come from. And she didn't like Loki's question. "Do I look like an army trained pilot?"

Loki's forehead furrowed in a disappointment, giving her a short valuating look. "No, I guess not."

"Oh, you are not thinking what I think you are thinking, are you?"

Like preparing for a battle, Loki conjured the golden, horned helmet on his head. It appeared on him with a flow of gleaming magic and made an indelible impression on Emma as he stood there in all his might. He looked like some super-rich, badass king from the Dark Ages. A sexy, mean devil he was.

A dozen of red laser sights pointed at them, a couple at Emma and the rest at Loki, little red dots on their chests. The armed combat soldiers were moving towards them over the snowy plain looking eager to open fire at the two of them.

"Loki. Stand down! We will open fire if you resist arrest! Repeat, stand down!" An ordering clear male voice spoke from the aircraft's loudspeakers.

"They know my name," Loki chuckled more than pleased, only wishing that he would have brought a proper weapon of his own, the spear of Odin would have done nicely. He had only his daggers and a few throwing knifes. It seemed he would have to improvise.

Emma threw her hands up and wished that the god of mischief would have done the same. "Loki, remember what I told you? They are not here to welcome you. Please, think! You're outnumbered. They've got guns. A lot. Big, big guns," Emma tried to reason with him.

Loki gave her a short compassionate glance for her concern. "Are you implying that they might have some manly size issues?"

"W-what?"

"Because I do not," Loki assured mildly. "Do not let the size of my horns fool you."

_What the hell was he talking about_, Emma pondered, staring at him stupefied and mouth open, not recalling making jokes about his horns while drunk but she had a bad hunch about it. "Okay!" she finally managed to say. "Thanks for sharing that. They're probably going to kill us both but I'm glad you got that off your chest. Jeez! You know what? That revelation made me feeling a lot better. Now I can die as a happy woman."

Loki had liked her comic side but this time her jesting didn't humor him. "Are you quite done yet?" he asked, shooting her with a look of light annoyance.

"I'm not. They are going to kill you. And me too, by the looks of it."

Even with their big weapons the soldiers were only mortals. Loki knew he could handle them, though it might not be easy. "Take cover, my dear," he said softly and moved towards his formidable adversaries, lifting his arms slowly up on his sides not as to surrender but to buy some time. "I am Loki of Asgard," he stated in a strong dark voice, valuating his situation, letting his gaze to find out every little detail. "And I shall accept your surrender if you yield now and kneel before me. Otherwise, you all will fall!" he declaimed like he would have been the king of Greenland already.

"Damn!" Emma whispered hopelessly, cautiously moving opposite direction from him, taking cover next to the SnowCat as he had asked. _Good thing he got his self-esteem in a perfect balance though._

A terrible racket broke the arctic silence as the blazing howl of gun fires filled the air. Every soldier and both of the aircrafts opened fire at Loki. Emma dropped sitting on the snow, leaning against the truck and covered her ears, seeing how a big swarm of bullets ripped apart of the apparition of the god of mischief, the rest of the illusion fading away with the wind. Utterly shocked she was truly hoping it had only been his illusion, worry filling her heart and latching her breathing. They hadn't given him even a fair chance. That had been plain madness, a cowardly murder.

The gun firing fell silent and a couple of the red laser spots returned at Emma as she lifted herself on her knees, the rest of the soldiers guarding each other's backs, cautiously checking their surroundings as if waiting for Loki to pop up out of the blue. _So they knew more about Loki that she had when she'd met him_, she pondered. Scott must have told them. _Were they from that S.H.I.E.L.D. too?_ Emma noticed one man standing further away from the rest, armed with only a crossbow. _Good luck for him. He had no chance with Loki if he still was out there._ Emma thought if she should have told them that Loki never played fair, but then again, she had witnessed how their weapons shredded his illusion apart mindlessly. She wasn't on their side either. They could do the same to her too. "_Loki, please be alive. Oh, God forgive me but please, let him be alive."_

"Careful now. He's still out there!" Barton spoke to the soldiers thru his earpiece. "Johnson and Fischer, get the girl!"

Two soldiers in black outfits and helmets moved towards Emma and she stayed on her place her hands above her head. "Emma Morgan?" the other man asked, his weapon pointing at her like she would have been a criminal.

"Yes?"

"Get on the ground! Hands behind your back!" he ordered, taking out handcuffs.

"Please, don't touch me!" Emma begged, remaining on her knees, searching for Loki with her gaze.

The soldier shoved her on the snow, being unfriendly, his knee pushing her down roughly, pulling her arms behind her back. And she didn't like that, grimacing in pain, her face in the snow. "No! Get your hands off me!" she screamed at that barbaric creature. _What had she done to deserve that kind of treatment?_ She had been much better off with Loki.

From the middle of the soldiers group a strong gust of wind threw a massive amount of light snow in the air, creating a thick rain of falling snow, disturbing their vision from one another. The left engine of the other Quinjet's burst in fire as a simple shovel, fortified with Loki's sorcery, broke the turbine, hitting hard between the turbine fans. The aircraft crushed whirling down on the ground left wing first. The god of mischief reappeared behind two soldiers and took them down with ease with his dagger, moving fast as a lightning. The weapon in his deadly hands found another victim, the bulletproof vest unable to protect the men inside from his brutal force. Two throwing knives hit mortally wounding their targets. Loki unleashed all of his hatred, that he felt towards Thor and the others Asgardian traitors, upon the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents who had came for him.

The soldiers, who were restraining Emma, left her on the ground and rushed aiding the others. Emma leaned on her forearms, the handcuffs only around the right hand's wrist, and watched Loki dancing his deadly dance, moving from one soldier to another, taking them down one by one. As much as she saw from the blocking snow, he was unstoppable. Within the falling white flakes it looked like he would have been a horned demon inside a giant snow globe. Random gun firings banged in the air, Loki not taking a scratch. They were all falling just as he had sworn. Emma couldn't look at it anymore; she ducked on the ground, covering her ears, eyes closed and praying for a miracle.

A speeding arrow caught Loki's attention. He grabbed it in the nick of time, as Barton found a spot for a clear shot at the demigod. Loki greeted him with a throwing knife that barely pierced Barton's vest. Another two arrows were already in the air and Loki blocked them pulling the nearest enemy as his shield. With one forcefully throw he tossed the wounded soldier at Barton, knocking him down on the ground.

As their numbers were dwindling, the stress was growing within the men left on the battlefield. Using that fear as his advantage and with more illusions, Loki turned the remaining men looking like him. They were soon shooting at each other, while he leaped inside of the still hovering quinjet. With a gun he took from a dead soldier, he killed the assistant pilot who was handling the machine guns.

Mercilessly he forced the first pilot to take the plane down and then pulled him from his seat with force, cutting his seatbelts with a knife. He had a need for him so he dragged him on the cabin and nailed him from his right hand's palm on the side of the wall with his weapon. The man screamed in agony, the blade piercing his palm.

Loki let him go, watching his good deed, catching his breath. "Stay!" the god of mischief ordered roughly at the poor man how had no means to free himself. Then he was back at the bloody battlefield, where only two fake Lokis were left. They had already realized the deception and teamed up again.

Loki greeted them with a cold grin. "What a pity. There can be only one me!" And with that, he conjured two more knives with both hands and threw them at his doubles, who collapsed among the rest of their fallen comrades turning back looking as themselves. The hum of the Quinjets's engines was the only sound left on the frozen, blood stained plain between the aircrafts and the SnowCat.

The ferocious battle had gotten his adrenaline (or whatever divine ether it was that streamed in his Jotun blood) surging, pushing him into a savagely fierce acts, and now he beheld the results_. Was he proud of himself? Well, he had pulled out of it alive, they hadn't._ He had taken no pleasure of the killing, it had been simply a necessary evil for staying alive. _Thor should have seen him now._ It would have shut his brother's mocking mouth about him not doing battle but only tricks. _He could do both._

A small sense of worry flickered in him as he noticed Emma lying on the ground unmoving close to the SnowCat. "Emma." Her name escaped from his lips as he moved through the field of fallen soldiers towards her.

The gun firing was over. The awful sounds of battle had finally come to an end. Emma heard someone moving next to her and she opened her eyes and cautiously lifted her gaze up and saw Loki squatting down by her side, looking seemingly pleased to see her alright. "Y-you're still alive," she sighed, touching his hand to be sure he was really there.

Loki pulled her gently up on her feet, his breathing steadying, and his gaze settling on her. "You sound disappointed," he said, taking a hold her hand and forcing the handcuffs open with mere strength.

Emma wasn't sure what to say, she only made a small shook of her head. Now she had seen all what he was capable of, from a sweetest talk to passionate kisses and to a savagely violence. And she only wished she'd had never found him at all. The sight of the massager made her sick on her stomach, making her realize she would never face any chance to defy him, ever, as long as he would make her tack along. And still after all of it, Emma stepped closer to him and pressed her head against his shoulder next to his neck relieved he was alive, seeking comfort in his arms, hearing his heart beating fast and fiercely in his chest. He had killed all those people with ease, not showing any sign of remorse, and yet when he returned to her he had treated her gently.

The whole previous evening and night had changed everything between them. She must have been crazy, but he was the only being alive in within 200 miles of freezing wilderness and she needed a hug, badly. Emma closed her eyes, listening his heart beating. That beautiful, dark, fallen god had a heart, and that was all she cared. They were in this together now.

Surprised by her sudden and unusual reaction, Loki wrapped his arms around her, holding her softly, and he felt her arms closing around him. He had broken through her strictly guarded personal boundaries, and he found her timid embrace calming him down. He felt her shivering and he was sure it wasn't because of the coldness. For someone who couldn't stand other people touching her, he took her hug as a sign of great trust and affection. Loki recalled his last hug been from Frigga, equally soothing, equally filled with gratitude. And he could have stayed there holding Emma a moment longer.

But then he sensed danger and with a super fast reflex, Loki snatched an arrow from the air that nearly hit him on the face. Emma startled by his quick move and pulled away from his embrace, her eyes then fixating at the arrow he was holding. Loki turned his gaze at the other end of the battlefield. _So, there was one more left._

Hawkeye, still standing on his ground, watched them behind his bow and arrow, the string stretched all the way back again, severely aggravated by the lost of his whole team.

"Shelter yourself!" Loki told Emma hastily, his hands on her shoulders. Then he rushed in motion, stern fire in his eyes, using his illusions to veiling himself invisible for another stealth attack.

Hawkeye had predicted that and he turned his bow at Emma instead and released the arrow.

Gasping Emma stared at the sharp point of an arrow that stopped in the air, only three inches away from her chest. Loki's hand emerged holding it and with it the rest of the god of mischief returned by her side with a golden flow unveiling his illusion. Even more grateful for saving her life again, Emma lifted her eyes at the horned trickster god who had been there for her, his name getting stuck in her throat.

Under his helmet, Loki's eyes flamed with rage, taking a look at his last advisory who had just taken a wrong turn. "Brutal beast!" he murmured, gritting his teeth and snapping the arrow in half between his fingers. There was already another arrow in the air, and handling as gently as he could Loki sent Emma hurling towards the tail of the SnowCat over the snow. "I really meant it. This time stay in cover!" he ordered her again in a rough voice, and left to teach some manners to the hunter with the bow.

Barton moved swiftly, trying to get his aim on his target, firing rapidly arrows at the approaching demigod. He had taken a wild guess that had proven right, that the hostile demigod's attention was distracted by concern of the welfare of the girl, whatever the reason was. Pulling yet another one from his quiver he noticed there were only two special arrows left. He picked them both and fired at once, taking his aim.

Loki snatched the one meant for him with a mischievous grin. There other one landed straight in front of the SnowCat where the girl was hiding under the vehicle. With a small smile on his lips, Barton stood by on his place, putting his bow on his side, waiting, giving a tiny nod at the demigod towards the vehicle behind him.

Holding on the last arrow, Loki gave a quick glance over his shoulder at the direction where he had left Emma. He heard a peeping sound that came from that another arrow, the peeping quickening ominously. And before Loki made another move, the point of the arrow in his own hand exploded, sending him flying through the air with a mighty blow.

Emma screamed hearing and feeling the explosion shaking the icy ground. The golden helmet dropped next to the vehicle, and she was hiding under it, seeing the horns peeking from the snow. "Loki!" she cried out, unable to think clear.

Barton smiled. A decoy and an explosive one, the oldest trick in the book. Yet he had no time to waste.

Loki landed with a big thud and let out an annoyed, pained gasp. He shot a furious glare at his opponent, pushing himself up from the deep snow, angry as hell.

Emma crawled out under the SnowCat and picked up Loki's helmet with shaking hands, searching him helplessly. She heard the archer approaching and turned to face him, taking a firm grip from a horn of the helmet, hoisting it on her shoulder and ready to hit him with it. _Why was she been dragged into this fight?_ "Stay away from me!" she screamed at him fiercely.

Barton moved closer, picking up his pistol, lifting another hand towards her. "You don't want to do this, Ms. Morgan!" he assured with calm voice. "I'm here to help you."

"The hell you are! You shot that freaking arrow at me!" Emma cried out, wading backwards in the snow away from him.

Barton had no time for quarrel. As he made a move to grab her as his shield, Loki pounced on him like a wild beast with an inhumanly long jump over the vehicle, taking on his revenge. Barton groaned in pain, steel piecing his body, as the god of mischief shoved the archer's own arrow through him with a force that wasn't stopped by even his bulletproof vest. Even in his poor state Barton took note that his explosive arrow hadn't done much damage to the demigod. There was only one scratch on Loki's cheek. _Only one bloody scratch!_

Loki forced Barton on his knees, stepping behind him, tearing from his hair to lift his face up and taking his dagger on the archer's throat. _Finally someone was kneeling!_

"Apologize!" Loki roared at the man, holding him still, a mad gleam in his eyes. His neatly groomed raven hair was in a state of mess after the blast but otherwise he was fine.

Barton ached in his grip, however accustomed with pain, his stamina crumbling. "Fuck you!" he grunted, and noticing the young woman watching at them looking horrid.

Loki pushed his knee against the man's back on the spot where the arrow was almost out, making Barton scream and nearly loss his consciousness. "Not from me," Loki grunted in a rough voice and glance at Emma, "Apologize from her!"

Barton's eyes meet with the woman's only briefly. He was sorry he had shot at her, but he wasn't going to give the pleasure of it to admit it to his tormentor. "Just get over with it!" he barely managed to grunt between his teeth. He had known from the beginning that in his profession the day could come when he would meet his maker. He had not expected it to come in a form of a mad demigod, though.

"Loki no!" Emma said in a breaking voice, watching at the complicated god creature who had put her under his spell. After all damage and ruin he had brought about around him, his was demanding an apology from a wounded man for her sake. She pondered that if he would have been there for her in her deepest despair in her young life, she wouldn't have become so broken that she was. "Please, for this once, listen to me," she said as if for a prayer, holding on his helmet, "I beg you. Don't do it! He's wounded already. Just... let him go."

Loki looked angry, his dagger on the man's neck, his fierce eyes at her. "Why would you care of his life? He not cared of yours!"

"Because," Emma swallowed, feeling that she had not influence of things no matter what she would say, "that's what makes me a human… for pity's sake…" she told giving a short glance at the man on his knees. Loki held literally the man's live in his hands, and no matter what he was she wanted no part of his death. "I don't want to become like..."

"Me?" Loki took a wild guess.

"…like him. I don't want to become like him."

Cold sweat on his forehead Barton let out a pained grunt. "You're not..." he took a small breath, glancing at Emma with squinting eyes, "that innocent yourself... Emily Morrison."

Gaping in a rising rage, Emma stared at him in return, taking a step closer, fighting an urge to shove Loki's helmet's horns through the man's chest. _So, they knew everything about her; what she had faced and done in earlier live. _Her birth name mentioned by him sent a wave of shock through her whole body as if she would have been shot again. For eight years she had done her best for trying to forget the horrors of her past and now it was shoved against her face. "You think you know me after reading a few lines from some crappy report?" Emma cried out. "You want me to kick another arrow through you, you bastard? You don't know a shit about me!" she screamed like a mad, letting the suffocated pain out.

Emma met Loki's questioning and bewildered gaze, lifting her tear-filled eyes at him only to turn and walk away. "Do… do what you want with him," she heaved a weak sigh and moved on the other side of the SnowCat, slumping her back against the vehicle, burying her burning eyes in her palms, waiting for Loki to finish his job. There she let out a bitter, muzzled cry.

_So, there was a lot he didn't know about her_, Loki thought following her with his gaze, and he was dying to learn more of his fierce Valkyrie. Those people she had told him about, who wanted to get rid off her kinds, who had hurt her; it seemed he was holding one of them in his grip. It would have been too easy and convenient to just split the man's throat.

He conjured his dagger away and leaned to speak to the archer's ear. "You should have apologized her," Loki whispered with a mean tone and shoved the archer on the ground roughly, leaving him lying on his side groaning in pain. He kicked the man on the stomach and the archer rolled around by his force. Loki would have kicked a lot more, but it looked like the archer lost his consciousness. _Dead or not the man wouldn't be causing anymore trouble for them. _

Sitting on the vehicle's tracks, Emma kept staring at Loki's gleaming helmet in front of her on the snow. _Was he the devil with his horns, or was he just as lost as she was, in a wrong place in a wrong time? _He had saved her, from that arrow, and forced a man on his knees to apologize her. He wouldn't have had to, but he had done it. And he had saved her yesterday in the ice canyon and after that he had been so sweet and kind towards her. She felt so messed up. She had no idea what to think of him anymore, expect that she trusted him more than the S.H.I.E.L.D. whatever it was.

She noticed him picking up his helmet from the ground and conjuring it to disappear between his hands like it would have been a magic trick while stepping next to her. "I hurt him," Loki announced in a quiet, not apologetic but more like a justified voice. "If it is any consolation to you, he is still alive," he continued, "barely."

Emma looked up at him, wiping her eyes, unable to say anything. There wasn't much to say anyway. The explosion had scared the living day light out of her and she kept staring at the small bloody scratch on Loki's left cheek. "Loki, you are hurt. I have a first-aid kit…" she said finally, forcing herself up on her shaking feet.

"Thank you but I am fine," the god of mischief assured and reached out his hand to her. "Come, Emma Morgan. I have a new ride for us," he said and she took his hand, holding it tightly.

With no more resistance left in her, feeling only numb inside, Emma went with him like an obedient dog, realizing that the S.H.I.E.L.D. wasn't just after Loki anymore, they were now after her too. She was stuck with him as long as he would keep her. There was only one thing she needed to do first.

Returning to unwanted consciousness Barton watched them leave, lying on his side on the coldness of the snow, the arrow sticking from his abdomen, his ribs broken. He noticed that there was a folded blanket under his head and two more blankets covering him as if for a small attempt to keep him warm and an opened first-aid kit on his reach. He guessed that it wasn't a courtesy from Loki. The woman gave one more worried glance at him over her shoulder, before climbing in the aircraft with the mad demigod. Whatever the connection they shared, it seemed that the demigod held her in leash but she was also appeared to be his weak spot.

With his little strength left, Barton contacted Coulson. "Talk to me, Barton!" Coulson's voice said in his earpiece.

Barton groaned, wavering between consciousness and merciful senselessness. "Where the hell is that backup you promised?" he spoke with difficulty, nearly not breathing at all.

"It's on its way. You sound..? Barton, are you alright?"

"No! He got me. He got us all. The whole team's down. He just took a Quinjet..."

"We'll coming to get you. Hold still." Agent Coulson's voice was full of worry.

"Morgan," Barton heaved a tiny sigh, his eyes willing to shut close. "It's a long shot, but worth to try... Get her and you'll get Loki."


	8. 8 A joyride

With heavy hearts Thor walked along the Rainbow Bridge towards the edge of the Asgard's realm, burdened by the lost of his best friend and brother. Without any other means he had broken the bridge to stop Loki's mad attempt to destroy Jotunheim, and in the process he had not only lost his connection to Jane but he had also lost Loki, his one and only brother.

Thor found Heimdall standing on the edge of the broken bridge, gazing down at the abyss of space. "So, the Earth is lost to us?" Thor asked walking beside Heimdall.

"No," Heimdall assured, glancing at Thor. "There is always hope."

Thor watched down at the abyss, thinking about his beloved Jane. "Can you see her?"

The guardian of the Bifrost smiled. "Yes."

"How is she?"

"She searches for you."

Thor gave her a thought with a small smile, remembering her sweet kiss for goodbye. Then he turned gloomier. "And what about Loki? Have you seen any sign of him?"

Heimdall hadn't forgotten about Loki's deception, putting him in ice and letting the Frost Giants past him into Asgard. He wouldn't have cared to find about if Loki was even alive. But Thor's affection towards his treacherous adopted brother made Heimdall to gaze down at the universe with his all-seeing eyes. He watched in silence, searching a long while. "I do not see..." he said but became quiet, turning his eyes at Thor with a worried look in them. "Loki is... in Midgard."

At first Thor smiled, finding out his brother was still alive, but then he looked seemingly troubled. "What?" he gasped, recalling Loki's words about Jane during their fatal battle:

_"__What was it on Earth that made you so soft? Don't tell me it was that woman? Oh, it was! Well, maybe when we are finished here, I will pay her a visit myself!"_

"Jane!" Thor sighed in an anxious voice, giving one more glance at Heimdall before hurrying back at the palace to have a serious word with his father. He needed to get back to Earth by any means.

**… …**

From a new perspective, from high above, the great glacier still looked white and enormous, but the ends of it were beginning to show already in the horizon as they were reaching to the coast. Emma, sitting on the second pilot's seat, glanced worried at their pained pilot who struggled to keep the aircraft steady with only one good hand. She had patched the man's hand with bandages from a first-aid kit and offered him some painkillers to make him feeling bearable after the damage Loki had caused him.

To avoid unwanted attention, all the connections outside were disabled and the jet cloaked with the stealth mode making it nearly invisible and hiding from the radars.

Self-satisfied Loki stood behind them, enjoying finally some speed and a personal '_I'm king of the world'_-moment, leaning his hands against the sides of the cockpit, watching down at the fast changing scenery. They had a new faster ride but the old heading; straight towards New Mexico.

Their short encounter with the agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. had made Emma fallen in silence, and it hadn't gone unnoticed by Loki. He pondered what these people had done to her that made her so beside herself with worry and fear. It was clear that they had hurt her. It was clear that their doings had struck the fear of intimacy into her heart. And that fear had made her fighting so fiercely against him too yesterday. He admitted that he had shown her a side of him that wasn't all so attractive. And he feared that his battle against the mortals had frightened her. He didn't want her to fear him anymore.

Loki squatted down, closer to Emma, his left knee on the floor, right arm resting on his knee. "Are you afraid, Emma Morgan?" he asked her, grabbing a hold from her seat and keeping an eye on the pilot.

Emma turned at him, unable to hide her troubled feelings. "I'd be a fool not to," she admitted, understanding her own limits. Nothing seemed to frighten him though.

He had killed all those soldiers with ease and the though of it pained her. No, it terrified her. But she did her best to reason it to herself that he had done it for self-defense. _They had attacked Loki. Hadn't they? They would have killed him. _It was nearly impossible to see him the same way that she had seen him in the morning. The fear of him had settled into her heart again and it was hard to shoo it off. A part of her felt like being a traitor to her own kind but then again there really wasn't very many of her kinds left. Those soldiers would have probably killed her too.

She gave Loki an uneasy smile when their eyes met. "You look confident of yourself."

"I am practically immortal. I have nothing to fear from these humans."

"Good for you. I feel like a sitting duck."

"You will be safe with me," Loki said assuringly. Her big blue eyes stared at him questioningly as if asking him 'why?' Why he had promised her something like that, he couldn't comprehend it either. They had shared a strong feeling of understanding last night and that had brought them closer together. "You have nothing to fear from me," he promised in a calm, serious tone.

_It felt comforting to hear that._ "That arrow... Thank you, Loki. You saved my life back there. Once again."

"After getting you involved with the battle that was simply the least I could do," Loki said with a nod. He was quiet for a moment, his emerald eyes studying her. "The archer called you Emily Morrison. Why? What is the story behind that name?" he asked then with growing curiosity. His tone was calm and dignifying, sensing the matter being painful for her.

Emma turned away, staring out into the arctic wilderness below, wishing he wouldn't have asked it. Loki had shared with her the things from his own life and she had no means to keep her own past hidden from him any longer. She was the one who didn't want to dwell on it. _Emily Morrison._ That name sent her thought a rollercoaster ride of emotions.

"Emily Morrison doesn't exist anymore. She died after spending over two months as a guinea pig in government's secret facilities, where they kept running sick tests on her... seeing how she tolerated in extreme environments." Emma closed her eyes, fighting back those images from her past. "At first she was afraid she was going to die there, but then little by little she begun to fear that she wouldn't."

"What happened to her?" Loki asked quietly. He found her more complicated creature than he could have ever imagined, not even daring to guess the struggles she had gone through already.

Emma took a long quivering breath, remembering the archer's words, telling that she wasn't that innocent. She wasn't, not really.

"She couldn't tell how long she'd spent there. She only knew she wouldn't survive through another test. Her body adapted to almost anything, from submerging for hours into freezing water to bearing scalding steam... the pressurized chambers..." Tears fell down on her cheeks. "But she never adapted to the pain they caused her. When they came for her once again, she fought back harder than ever. She took that damn pen that the so called doctor had been clicking for weeks, and shoved it in his eye. The other one was easier to deal with. She took their keys and guns, and she didn't care anymore who came on her way, she shot them all until she was out. From there she just ran." Emma turned her face back at Loki, her tormented blue eyes afraid to look straight at his. "Something just snapped inside of her. She couldn't control herself. Emily Morrison turned into a monster, and died on that day, but I've been running ever since, hoping that, that darkness would never find me again. I have to live with it, keeping it under control. And, sometimes it's very hard."

Loki watched her compassionately, finally realizing where her fierce fighting spirit originated from. On that time she must have been only a child, like she had told; only sixteen. He has had no idea what monstrosity the humans were doing to each other. He wondered if Odin even knew. "All because of your mutant abilities? What they hoped to achieve with all that torment?"

Emma gave a weak shrug. "That's what I would have wanted to know. Once I heard them mentioning something about creating super soldiers... But I wasn't the only one they kept caged. Can't stop thinking that I should have tried to help the others to escape." She lifted her face up, doing her best to overcome her emotions.

With a gentle hand Loki stroked her cheek to wipe away a trail of tears with his thumb. He liked to touch her soft skin. And she welcomed his touch, her tensed shoulders relaxing and her eyes returning to his, having no hurry to ask him to stop. "I am sorry," he said finally in a soft voice, truly feeling her pain behind those words, truly meaning it and being sincerely sorry for her. It pained him to see his fierce Valkyrie so hurt, perhaps it reminded him of his own sufferings he hadn't yet dealt with. He let his hand cradling her face as it would have been the only thing keeping her in one piece. "I owe you an apology of all my indiscreet actions towards you. And, I am sorry that I hurt your friends."

Emma looked confused. "Peter and Scott? Do you really mean it?"

"I do. I have been beginning to think that maybe I should have not harmed them at all. And especially you. I should have never harmed you. Will you forgive me?"

He wasn't judging her as Emma had been afraid of. Her darkest and most kept secret wasn't scaring him as it would have done to a normal person. Well, he wasn't actually a normal person. And he was apologizing to her of his own deeds. He surely had a good reason for it. He being sorry for hurting Scott and Peter meant a lot to her, showing her that he actually had a conscience. They were both as much as monsters and they couldn't really blame each other for it.

Not shying away from his touch anymore, his words of consolation and gentle touch feeling like balm, Emma gave him a small smile. "Sure, I forgive you. Comparing to my past, you've been like a picnic in a park."

Unsure was that meant to be a compliment, Loki smiled back at her gently, taking her both hands in his. "I swear to you," he announced softly but with a determination, "they will pay for what they have done to you."

Emma shook her head for a disapprovance. It was not what she would have wanted. Her own uncontrollable outrage during her escape years ago had been a vengeance enough, and she still felt guilty of the lives she had taken. "They have."

She felt the warmth of his big hands holding hers, and it melted a small piece of her again. With one quick inhale she conjured those dark memories away and gave him a bit broader smile. If it was a time for apologies then maybe she had a reason for a few too. "I'm sorry I called you a dark smurf and with several other nasty names. And I'm sorry I tried to hit you with the shovel yesterday."

Loki tried not to grin. Those had been petty insults comparing of what he had done to her. "It is all forgotten already. Maybe I should have not transformed the shovel into a snake."

"Yeah, now that you mentioned it that was really mean. I should have told your mom about it."

"I am sorry for that too," Loki nodded, trying to keep his dimples in minimum. "So, what is a smurf?" he asked, pondering was it some sort of huge beast with a bad temper.

Feeling like their conversation was getting too much of attention, Loki and Emma both glanced at the pilot on their side who kept staring at them, feeling himself as the biggest eavesdropper ever.

The man swallowed, looking troubled behind his pilot shades. "W-we are the S.H.I.E.L.D. We don't hurt people like that," he hurried to assure to his hostile passengers. He had witnessed how the demigod had taken down his whole team, mutilated his right hand, and the young woman just admitted she had killed a number of people. And now they were talking like some fucked up and crushed teenager. He definitely didn't want to be there with them.

"You have only one job!" Loki grunted at him with annoyance. The pilot concentrated at his only job; flying the jet.

Emma trusted this S.H.I.E.L.D. as much she trusted those who had kept her caged years ago. The pilot was one of them, whoever they were. "You realize this is far from over," she said and returned her gaze back at Loki. "There will be others. And they won't stop until they'll catch us. I fear we're not going to make it out of this alive. What is in New Mexico? Why do you want to go there so badly?"

Pondering the same thing, Loki broke free from her gaze and her hold. He had been so desperately seeking for retribution that he had forgotten everything else. He wondered would Emma still look at him the same way, if he would take his revenge on Thor by blighting and killing Jane Foster as he had originally planned. His silence had seemed to be the answer enough, since Emma continued quietly: "Unless there isn't your celestial army waiting, we shouldn't go there."

Lifting his gaze at her, remaining on his knee, Loki made up his mind. "We will not stand down. We will not retreat or go hiding," he stated firmly, seeing from her eyes that she wasn't happy with that. "But, we may consider a small leave, to take some time to get to know each other a little better, to scheme our plans... in somewhere nice and warmer." Emma's eyes returned at his again. "What would you suggest?"

With a puzzled small smile Emma looked at him. She couldn't believe that he was asking for her opinion, his beautiful green eyes locked with her, waiting for her answer. She could have fallen for him on that moment, a part of her did. _After all he had done, she must have been truly fucked up to feel this way, but they had begun using the word 'we'._

"Um... We should go anywhere but the States. To Europe or Asia. I bet the Scandinavians would love you. Peter obviously did. The things he told me about Finland sounded nice. There is a lot of vodka, your new favorite drink, and people go crazy on summer time, they don't talk too much to strangers which is good in our case. They listens heavy metal and eat weird things like a fishcock. Like what the hell is that? Are you supposed to eat it or fuc-? Um… So, they have reindeers, and according to Peter apparently the one and only real Santa."

Loki hadn't had a clue of half of what she had told him. "You think this 'Santa' could provide us an army?"

Emma tried not to grin but failed miserably. "Maybe he could borrow a few elves if you'd be nice."

Loki frowned. "Dark or light elves?"

"Neither, I think. No, merry, little, old ones with long beards and red caps..." She had no more any idea what the hell was she explaining to him.

"Sounds like the poor folk in Nornheim."

Emma shook her head and let out a tiny laugh. "No Finland then. Caribbean is nice and warm. We could go there, sitting under palm trees on the beach, eating grapes and drinking rum without cares of the world. I could teach you to dive."

Loki liked the sound of that and revealed his grin. "You cannot hold your liqueur, woman. Perhaps I should do the drinking for both of us."

Emma smiled to that with a nod, and Loki didn't want to take his eyes off her when her troubles left her and her looks were bright and full of hope. _Did he do that?_ He hardly knew her but would have wanted to kiss her again. With the corner of his eye, he noticed the pilot staring at them again mouth open.

His forehead furrowing, Loki let out an annoyed breath, turning at the man and gave him a short valuating look. "You are not invited!"

"Um… I'm sorry, sir."

"Do you not just hate being the third wheel?" Loki asked in a husky voice, pushing down an autopilot button. He grabbed a hold from the man's collar and picked him up from his seat, walking him on the cabin.

"What are you doing, Loki?" Emma asked, worried, watching at them as Loki took a bag of parachute and wrapped it on the pilot.

"I'm sorry, sir... I... I..." the pilot stammered, guarding his injured hand, fearing that Loki was going to hurt him again.

"You services are no longer required. I think I have got the hang of it," Loki smirked and walked the pilot on the other end of the aircraft, pushing the rear hatch's opening button on his way. When the hatch was nearly open, Loki threw him out, sending him flying in the air screaming. With careless steps he returned, closing the hatch and taking a seat on the pilot's seat next to Emma.

Emma started at him, gaping. "Are you crazy?" she yelped after the stunt he just pulled, kicking the only pilot out from the jet.

"Possibly! I thought you had it figured out already," Loki grinned and let out a laugh that caught on her too.

She noticed the parachute opening far behind and the pilot soaring over the unfrozen land since they were already above the coastline the great blue sea opening before their eyes. She saw that they just flew over a small village or a town. _Sure, the pilot would be fine there._

"Oh my god!" Emma found herself laughing with him, unsure had she became as mad as he was. "You didn't bother to drive the SnowCat. Can you actually fly this thing?"

"Let's find out." He placed his hands on the control wheel and pushed off the autopilot, taking the jet under his control, seemingly enjoying the feeling of freedom. _It couldn't be any harder than flying a spacecraft_, he reasoned. His face softened and his emerald eyes smiled as he looked at Emma. "Do you trust me, Emma Morgan?"

_And with that her life was completely in his hands again_, Emma thought, returning to his smile. "If you'll play fair with me for now on."

"You have my word," Loki promised with a tiny grin.

"No more tricks?"

"No more tricks."

"I'm so going to hold you to that, Trickster." The way Emma said 'Trickster' was soft and warm recalling their kisses and desiring some more.

Loki smiled broadly. They were just the two of them again and they were going to take a new heading. His revenge could wait for the eternity as long as he had her with him. "You read the map, my dear."

**… …**

Back in Asgard, the look on Thor's face was dismayed as he stared at his father who sat on the throne once again. "Did you not hear me, father? Loki is in Midgard," Thor repeated.

"I know," Odin answered simply.

"You send him there?" the god of thunder asked, confused.

"Yes. It was the only way I was able to save him."

Thor exchanged glanced with his mother as she walked to them and by her looks it seemed that she had already known Loki's whereabouts. "Mother, you know where Loki is, do you not?"

Queen Frigga nodded, a part of her hoping that Loki would find his own path in there but she was still troubled. "Yes. And your father sent him there for a good reason."

The anxiety within Thor only grew stronger. It was as if his parents didn't realize what soft of chaos Loki was capable of causing in the world of mortals. He turned back at Odin. "So, you stripped him from his powers?"

Odin shook his head. "No. For that I am afraid I did not reach him in time."

Thor groaned. "Then send me after him. I will find him and bring him back in some way."

"No!" Odin's voice thundered in the great hall. "Loki must find his own way if he wishes to return."

Frigga moved closer to her husband. "For pity's sake, Odin. Please, bring him back."

"Only if he should abuse his powers and bring about ruin around him then I would be forced to act."

"What about Jotunheim? Was that not enough of ruin for you?" Thor asked.

"My word is final."

Thor was falling in to a foul mood when Heimdall strode in front of them looking worried.

"My king," the guardian of the Bifrost said and bowed to his king, his right arm across over his chest. "I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but I am afraid it is about Loki…" he begun and told them what he had seen Loki doing in Midgard, his battle with the soldiers on the glacier.


	9. 9 Surprise

The rolling scenery of golden fields, green hills and small villages was scurrying down below as the Quinjet sped over an idyllic English countryside that bathed in orange and red of the setting sun. The gigantic glaciers of Greenland had left far behind ages ago. And trusting him that much, Emma had dared to close her eyes and doze, while Loki had been flying the jet over the great Atlantic Ocean.

They had continued their talks, Emma telling him about the phases of her uneasy but colorful life, and Loki sharing with her his juiciest tricks from his younger age that used to drive Asgardians insane and thus earning his title as the God of Mischief.

"Just to let you know; I hate snakes," Emma said with an uneasy smile after hearing that she hadn't been the only one Loki had tricked with the serpents. "It was a good trick, though. But please, don't do that again."

Loki gave her an apologetic smile. "I am sorry about that. And all that followed..." Loki admitted that he had been too hard on her in their earlier collision. She was a lovely creature, and the more he had learned about her, had only strengthened his feelings. "Except the kiss," he continued hesitating, feeling himself like an ungainly teenager. "I am not sorry about that."

Emma felt her pulse rising, her eyes locked with his, the memory of his heated kiss returning to her and the one she had given him. She could barely speak. They haven't really talked about that seriously. "Neither am I." She swallowed. "I liked it."

She couldn't believe that she had said that aloud. She knew perfectly well that he was out of her league in so many ways. For a start; he wasn't even from this planet. And he wasn't what he appeared to be. He was – in his own words - a king and nearly a god. And he was so hot that he could have had any woman he would have wanted. He probably wouldn't have given her a second look if she wouldn't have been the only woman who stumbled onto him. On the other hand, he seemed to have some serious identity crisis and unsolved mental issues, and he had developed a very bad habit to take down anyone who dared to step on his way. A normal person would have run a mile from him. He was such complicated being, and yet Emma had found a side of him she was fond of. It was more than that. She didn't want to admit it even to herself but she desired him. The feeling was insane for so short-lived acquaintance but they had stuck up together for that whole time.

As if he would have been reading her like an open book, Loki gazed at her with hungry eyes, sharing that desire. He took note the way she kept looking at him. It was a mixture of affection and poorly concealed longing. It was the look he'd used to see so many times on Asgardian single ladies when they'd looked at Thor. There had been a time he could have killed just in order to receive such admiring gaze, instead of feeling himself invisible on his brother's side. But now, Emma making eyes at him, he felt like he was the only man in the world.

"Perhaps, we should land here for a while. It looks beautiful. Might be worth to take a closer look," he said in a soft voice, as if he would have been talking about the countryside, but he kept gazing at Emma in a quite different intention in his mind.

And Emma could read between the lines that he wasn't a damned interested about the scenery; he wanted to continue where they had left off with their kissing. A lot further if she had understood him correctly.

"Sure," Emma sighed, not so sure was it wise at all. Either way, she was in trouble with him already. Why not share a sunset like that with him, for once in her life feeling herself truly living instead of being afraid of a touch. Who knew how much time they had gotten left, the S.H.I.E.L.D. on their tail. They were like old-fashioned outlaws being on the run, like Bonnie and Clyde. _That didn't end well!_ "I wouldn't want to miss a sunset like that."

Loki gave her a small, slightly bewildered smile. With her consent, he slowed down the aircraft's speed and begun to look for a perfect spot for admiring the sunset. He knew it was madness. He should have concentrated on greater matters, but he simply wanted her. _This wasn't him. This was being too irrational for his reticent nature. He must have taken a more severely damage on his way on Earth that he had thought._

"You know what I am and you have seen what I have done. You do not fear me?" he asked, just wanting her to say it. She knew what he was; she had seen him in his Jotun form. He wanted her to say it aloud. This time he didn't want to force her into anything she wasn't willing to do.

"You can do a lot of scary things I admit, but I've seen you have a heart. I'm not afraid of you, and I want to believe in you," Emma said quietly.

"Then you would be the only one." Loki heaved a sigh with a sad smile. "Telling the truth, even I do not believe in myself, of what I am. My true parentage is… it is disgrace. None of them I know would ever accept my Jotun heritage. Except Frigga…"

"You shouldn't give a damn what others thinks about you!" Emma said abruptly but in an encouraging way. She found it hard to believe that he would have worried about what others might think about him. "I know it all too well that we can't choose our parents or the way we're raised. Everything leaves a mark. Sometimes it feels like some of our lives were fucked up before they've even begun, no matter what we try. But what you can do is not to let the others to determine what you are." Emma stared into his eyes, her smile turning into a careful, considering look, hoping she wasn't encouraging him too much to do something crazy like taking over the whole planet.

With puckered up brows Loki let out a small chuckle. "You are such a vulgar poet. But, I guess there is truth in your words. Before, I used to know exactly who I was, living a life already planned out for me. But now, now no-one holds me back."

"I would like to remind you that here on Earth the rest of us are just mortals. You don't have to go too hard on us."

"We have both had to endure more than enough because of what we are. Maybe, we are not that different after all, Emma Morgan."

"I guess so. Please, just call me Emma. It kind of creeps me when you keep saying my whole name."

"Very well, Emma. But it is not your real name, is it? Why have you chosen it?"

"It was my grandmother's name. She was the smartest and kindest person I knew. I sort of wished that I could have kept her with me with her name, reminding me of what I used to be before turning into what I'm now. How come, you don't see me as a freak of nature?"

Loki gave her a sympathetic look. "I have just found out that I am a Frost Giant. It would be ill to judge you."

"What ever have happened to your '_I am a god, you dull creature_' –attitude?" she asked, poorly imitating his dark voice.

"I have never said that!"

"You said that to Peter. Or something pretentious like that."

"I had just been tossed into a freezing hell and he was behaving like an idiot," Loki admitted giving her a glance, and she nodded with a grin. "But, I like these little conversations of ours, Emma. You are different than anyone I have ever met."

"I can say the same about you." She was in silence for a moment like she would have realized something momentous. "I just realize, I don't even know your last name, if you have one. Do you, Loki of Asgard?"

"Odinson," Loki said automatically, feeling a stab in his heart, knowing that it really wasn't his true name. It didn't identify him anymore as the son of the king of Asgard.

"Loki Odinson," Emma tasted the name. "It has a nice ring to it."

Loki managed to keep a straight face recalling her drunken lamenting. "Well, unlike your mother, now you would know the full name of the father of your future offspring," he jested.

Emma frowned. "Ah, you know, now wouldn't be the best time to make jokes like that."

"I am only being sincere, Logan's daughter."

"How did you...? Oh no," Emma hissed, looking suffering. "Please, tell me I didn't pour my heart out to you while I was drunk."

"Oh, that you did. I learned a quite lot about you. More than I would have cared to know actually." He found a perfect spot for landing far ahead on a high hill, distant enough from all settlement and perfect for admiring the sunset. "There. A perfect spot."

Emma closed her eyes in embarrassment._ Oh shit! Was she completely deranged and retarded of even thinking about making out with that trickstering alien? Was she deranged of even thinking about thinking it? What if they weren't compatible in the physical level? And her lack of experience wasn't going to do any good. Maybe he would settle for kissing. That had been so good. _ "Let's find a pub or something. I think you need to buy me a drink first."

Loki laughed, biting his lower lip, knowing what only a drop of alcohol had done to her. He loved her sense of humor. At least he hoped she was joking. He really liked the way she made him laugh.

"Um… Not that I'm curious or anything, but is there Mrs. Odinson waiting you back home? Or, anyone special?"

Loki cast a confused look at her as he was dropping the jet's altitude. "There is a paradox in your question? How can a woman be son of Odin?"

"I meant are you married. Here when a couple gets married it is a custom that woman takes her husband's last name. I know. It's a stupid custom and should be banned."

Loki's eyebrows lifted in curiosity. "I am unmarried. And no, there are no special one waiting me back in Asgard."

"Oh?" Emma bit her lips, unable to fight the blush that colored her cheeks. _Now who was being too eager?_ "That's hard to believe."

"And why is that?" Loki asked, enjoying of seeing her getting embarrassed, finding her growing interest towards him pulsating. He would have loved a good compliment.

"Well…" Emma grimaced after getting herself cornered with her own cleverness again. "Are all Asgardian women blind? Or perhaps they are simply toothless ogres and you haven't yet found what you're looking for?"

A broad grin spread on Loki's face. That was a compliment enough, cloaked in a thrown back question. "Oh, they are all hideous creatures… unlike you. Who knows, maybe I have just found what I have been looking for all my life," he said giving her a long, significant glance, his voice turning softer, his beautiful emerald eyes stealing all her attention. A small appealing uncertainty returned to his face as he watched her. "Maybe you were the reason I had to go through a hell just to get here. And I would have done it all again a smile on my face if I had known it would lead me to you."

He knew he had chosen the rights words when Emma returned his gaze in a bashfully interested way, looking deep into his eyes like trying to see was the trickster telling the truth, her breathing shivering.

The sun was setting, creating a perfect moment in a world where were just the two of them. The time was ripe and they were craving to touch each other. They were drawn into a sweet embrace just to hold and to kiss one another with such a sudden passion as if it would have been dictated by a raw force of nature. And when Emma kept gazing at him with her tenderly longing blue eyes Loki wished he could have slammed the damn jet on the ground on that very moment and snatched her in his arms.

The magic of the small moment was broken when they both noticed the reddish sky darkening all of a sudden and grey storm clouds gathering high on the sky, casting huge shadows over the green, flourishing land. It looked like a storm rising and fast, veiling the last rays of the red sun.

Emma heaved a small disappointed sigh. "Isn't this just my luck? Must be that typical English weather, huh?" she said, pulling herself together after his sweet words that had made her drowning into his gaze. He surely had a way with words.

"No!" Loki growled in disbelief, staring at the blackening thunder clouds, the lightnings striking ominously all around. He knew it could only mean one thing. _One very annoying thing!_

"Please, don't freak out now! I don't really give a damn about a sunset. We've already done that in Greenland," Emma tried to calm him down, sensing that scary side of him returning.

Loki turned his angrily confused gaze at her, a sorry look seizing his eyes. "Please, forgive me."

"It's okay. It's not your fault, Loki."

His dark brows curved down into a sad, apologetic frown. "I am afraid it is."

Just as he had said that a lighting struck nearby and they felt something heavy hitting on the top of the aircraft, giving it a shake. Loki managed to keep the plane steady, gritting his teeth in a building up anger. The alarm sign of "Stealth mode failure" started blinking on the small screen in the front panel.

Emma glanced up in a fright, wondering had someone threw an elephant at them. "What the hell was that?" she cried out, trying to dig deeper in her seat, pulling her seatbelts tighter.

"That, I believe is, Thor!" Loki growled, wondering what the hell was Thor doing on Earth, now of all times. _How had he even gotten there with out the Bifrost?_ Loki rolled his eyes annoyed. Of course Odin would have mustered up all his powers to send Thor after him, but the old king wouldn't have done a thing to safe his life.

Emma looked at him shocked. "Thor?"

"Yes!"

"As your brother Thor?"

"Yes! The one and only. Hold on!" Loki told her and pulled the speed nearly to maximum, flipping the aircraft upside-down, hoping to shake off their unwanted passenger. He sensed a small jerk on the plane as the extra weight dropped off, and couldn't helped but to grin, turning the aircraft back on the right way around.

Emma felt like she was ready to throw up after that surprise spin. "I take it we won't be landing anytime soon?" she panted, holding tight on the armrests. _So much for snuggling together in a sunset!_

Loki shook his head, rage filling him inside. "I will have to..."

He was interrupted rudely as the whole aircraft rocked by a huge impact with a monstrous metallic, smashing sound. It was like something had exploded on the back of the Quinjet. The massive hit tore up a large hole on the rear hatch when Thor made his way into the jet uninvited. "Loki!" Thor's rough and angry voice carried over a clap of thunder.

In a fright Emma stared over the seat at the big, blond warrior with a mighty hammer, his red cape waving wildly in the violent draft on the back of the opened aircraft. "So, that's Thor?" she murmured uneasily. That didn't look like a projection or an illusion like Frigga had been. She had liked his mom better.

Loki fought to keep the jet steady and glance quickly over his shoulder, seeing his brother standing there in the cabin with a sour face. "Take the wheel!" he said to Emma in a dark tone and jumped up, rushing to meet the unwanted visitor, pulling out his dagger.

"You've got to be fucking kidding me!" Emma cried out, watching the supernal brothers colliding into a fierce fight inside the cabin too small for their showdown. The whole aircraft rocked from side to side and Emma saw it wiser to do as Loki had asked her, unbuckling her seatbelts and moving on the pilot's seat, trying to get the hang of the controls.

Thor blocked another Loki's hit and lifted his hammer between them two. "I am not here to fight you, brother!" he growled. He hadn't come to continue where they had left off on the bridge.

Flared up Loki stared into Thor's eyes, feeling the same rage as he did before Thor smashed up the Rainbow Bridge. "Then you have come into a wrong realm!" Loki stated in fury, shaking his head and shoving his dagger on Thor's side with one quick move like a strike of a serpent.

Thor grunted in pain and with the opportunity given Loki pushed his brother towards the rear of the jet, escorting him out the same way he has come in. But not giving up so easily Thor grabbed a hold of his brother's arm, pulling Loki with him and out through the open hole.

"Loki!" Emma cried out his name in panic, seeing him falling off from the jet nearly a mile high above the ground with the blond warrior.

She couldn't believe they would survive such a fall, and she was gasping for air in the draft and in a great anxiety. She stared at the controls of the jet, her hands squeezing on the control wheel. She wasn't sure if she would even survive, flying a broken aircraft in a storm. _How was she supposed to help him?_ She could have taken a parachute and go after him but it was simply too late for that. "Oh no, no, no! Don't do this to me! Loki!"

All the way down Loki and Thor kept fighting and falling through the air. As they both finally hit hard on the ground on a green hillside, they remained lying on there for a while aching. The sky was dark and cloudy above them, but the thunder had fell silent as was Thor himself.

"Ohh-hh..." Loki grunted, letting out a short pained laugh, taking a small breath, and feeling was anything broken. "This is like Nidavellir once again," he gasped lying on his back. He noticed a few sheep haring off down the hillside, passing by them closely.

Thor wasn't in a gaming mood as he pulled his face from the ground and crawled on his hands and knees. Staring at his brother he forgot his seriousness for a short while, sharing that memory with a tiny chuckle. "It was entirely your fault! The dwarves did not appreciate you fine eloquence," Thor reminded to his brother of their not so successful visit to the dwarves' realm that had seemed to be ages ago. Then he turned gloomier again, while standing up.

With a worry Loki lifted his gaze at the dark sky as he was getting up on his feet, searching the aircraft where he had left Emma. His chest tightened with a sense of sudden concern. To his relief he spotted the Quinjet's lights returning to their direction, slowly dropping altitude but still far ahead. _Good girl!_ He thought, heaving a relieved sigh with a tiny smile. She had had a change to escape, ran as far as she could away from him, but she was coming back to him.

Then he turned back at Thor, not so happy to see him again. "Tell me, with the Bifrost gone, how much dark energy did the Allfather muster up to get you back down here? To your precious Earth?"

Thor dropped his hammer on the ground and grabbed a hold of his brother, not so brotherly or loving way. "I thought you were dead!" he grunted in a pained voice, holding Loki still, seeing in his mind how Loki fell into the abyss, feeling that helplessness of being unable to help him then.

Loki snorted. "Did you mourn?"

"We all did. Our father..."

Loki lifted his finger to interrupt. "Your father!" he corrected, and pulled himself free, giving a short disgusted look at Thor's outfit, feeling a small sense of justice been served. "Do not come too close, your breastplate is smudged with sheep shit!"

Thor glanced down at his tainted armor, letting out an annoyed grunt.

"Odin did tell you about my true parentage, did he not?" Loki asked then in a bitter voice, walking away from Thor, still feeling aching in his body. It was a second time he had been falling from the skies on his back within a few days, and hadn't yet grown to like it. Nor had he learned yet to accept his origins.

Thor followed him, taken aback as if everything would have changed by Loki's true origins unveiled. "We were raised together. We played together. We fought together. Have you already forgotten all of that?"

Loki stretched his back straight gazing at Thor. "Oh, how could I ever forget? I do remember a shadow. Living my whole life in the shade of your greatness." His voice was full of bitterness and sadness. That was something he couldn't ever forget. "It was your doings that set in motion of all this. Or have you so conveniently forgotten Jotunheim? You rushed there blindly ready to rid the world of the Frost Giants."

"Like I said, I have changed. But you were trying to destroy their whole realm… your own race, Loki!"

"Why should I care for them? They never cared for me."

"Well, I do. We all care for you, my brother."

"Oh, and you have a strange way of show it. I remember you tossing me on the brink of an abyss. I was, and should be king!" Loki stared at his brother with a sad smile, remembering of letting go of the spear. "Why are you here? Did I not do you a favor?"

Thor stepped closer to Loki. "I never wanted to fight you, Loki," he said and reached a hand to hold Loki brotherly from the back of his neck. "Forget whatever your plans are here, and come home! It is not too late."

Loki took in his words but let out a snort. "Back to your shadow, huh? Humiliated?" Loki shook his head and grunted, freeing himself from Thor's grip again. "You go back home, Odinson! Asgard is yours, for all I care. And Earth shall be mine!"

"So you would take the world I love as a recompense for your imagined slights? No. The Earth is under my protection now, Loki."

Loki let out a mean laugh. "And I am sure you would have done a marvelous job with that, watching the humans slaughtering each other in droves." He glanced quickly at the sky, the approaching aircraft at the distance. _Emma was truly returning._ "You do not know the half of the monstrosity they are doing to each other, to the innocents."

"And you think you grown wiser? Your hands are stained by their blood already."

"You are no better to judge me! As I recall there was a lady in my presence, and you, in your great wisdom, left her in peril up there, piloting a damaged aircraft!" Loki scolded, enjoying that small moment of Thor's awful mistake, pointing his finger up at the sky.

"What?" Thor glanced up with worry, reaching his hand for his hammer that swung to his grip. He hated to admit it but it just occurred to him that perhaps Loki was right. The woman was there alone now. He was about to spin his weapon to gain the ability to fly at the aircraft when Loki stopped him, Loki's hand on his shoulder.

Loki glowered at Thor with a foul expression. "No!"

"Do you want me to save her, or not?" Thor asked.

Loki gave one more glance up at the jet on grey cloudy sky. "She is smart enough to look after herself," he stated nearly in possessive way, not wanting Thor anywhere near Emma. She was his, if she needed saving he was going to do it himself. And to him, it seemed that she was doing just fine up there. Quickly he changed the subject, knowing it would put a spark into his brother. "But tell me, how is Jane? Did you come straight to me or did you have time to see her first? I remember I promised to pay her a visit. And since we are all here now..."

Thor lost it when Loki mentioned his beloved. He roared and dropped his hammer, jumping on to his mischievous brother and they were in a fight again, rolling down on the hill. They had been too busy battling each other that they didn't pay attention to the Quinjet that soared closer like a big mean ghost, until they were in its lights.

Thor gave a questioning look at his brother who stood his back against the aircraft, casting a shadow over Thor in the lights of the aircraft. _It truly seemed that the woman was capable of looking after herself, maybe too well,_ Thor thought. "Loki, how well you know this woman of yours?" the god of thunder asked watching at the jet, lifting his hand up to shield his eyes in the bright lights.

"It is none of your concern!" Loki roared, flared up, knowing she was right there behind him in the aircraft. She had returned, for him.

Against Loki's expectation, a minigun dropped on the sight below the jet, and Thor's eyes grew larger with worry. "Well, it should be more of your concern, because she is about to open fire at us!" Thor shouted, and Loki turned to take a puzzled look over his shoulder.

And just as that, the minigun's barrel begun spinning with a fierce whirling sound and firing at the mighty gods of Asgard, offering them both a heavy shower of lead.


	10. 10 SHIELD up

Please note that I updated two chapters at once, this and the previous one because I didn't want to leave you with a nasty cliffhanger. Besides I was so happy with you lovely reviews that I wanted to express my gratitude in some way. Thank you again!

So, if you came straight into this one chapter, please visit the previous too.

**… …**

A little bit earlier up in the air:

Emma managed to get the hang of the Quinjet's controls, being able to lower the speed and turn the jet around. Searching for Loki she was dropping the altitude. She was feeling herself an idiot, being out of her mind. She could had ran or fly far away from him and all this madness, but she just couldn't leave him out there if he still was alive.

"I can do this!" she kept telling to herself. "Piece of cake!"

As she was slowly approaching the sight where she assumed the two deities left off, the controls of the aircraft suddenly jammed, not obeying her anymore, and the failure text in the screen was replaced by a red notification saying "System override". The aircraft slowed down and remained hovering in the air.

"What the hell?" Emma grunted not believing it, trying to get it moving. "What is wrong with you, you stupid piece of...?"

"Excuse me, miss, but I don't believe you have an authorization to fly this aircraft," a charming male voice spoke from the speakers, leaving Emma puzzled for a few seconds. "Oh my! By the damage taken I assumed a female pilot, was I correct?"

Emma snorted very much annoyed, putting on the headphones with a microphone to talk with him. "Like I had a damn choice! And it's not my fault. Some crazy Viking god smashed through the rear hatch!" she said to her defense, not knowing why she did that.

"Wow, whatever you've smoked I want some too. Um, perhaps you can help me out, honey. I'm looking for a guy called Loki," the male voice said, keeping up a casual tone, sounding like a New Yorker.

_Yeah, well join the club!_ Emma bit her lips nervously. "Don't know who you're talking about."

"I'd hate to call you a liar, but I think you do. I'm talking about the big, mean guy with a serious god-complex who took down a whole S.H.I.E.L.D team in Greenland."

"Um... He's not here!"

"I can see that. There's only one person inside that Quinjet. That'd be you. But the question is, where's he?"

Emma shrugged, feeling herself for a very poor liar, glancing around looking for a camera. "He went back home, with his brother."

"Now you're lying again, darling. Let's not do this! I know you've had a rough patch, and a Stockholm syndrome is a bitch. But I really need to find him."

Emma let out a snort. She was getting upset with the funny guy. "Oh yeah? What for?"

"I'm going to kick his ass!"

"Hah, good luck with that! You and what army?"

"Thanks. It's just me, and Jarvis. My backup is on its way, though."

"Who the hell are you?" Emma asked still confused. He didn't sound like any agent of any bureau.

"I'm the guy who designed and built that aircraft you're sitting on, and left a backdoor in the system to take it over if needed. I knew it would come handy. If you don't mind, I'll help you down now."

The jet was moving again, piloted with a remote control. The male voice was quiet for a moment but Emma could hear a very silent robot-alike voice carrying thought the headphones. "Ahh... a small change of plans, honey. It seems we've located that Loki guy and his friend, and are going there to pick them up. Just sit tight and enjoy the fly!"

"What?" Emma yelped, gazing down at the darkening countryside, searching for Loki. She noticed something flashing like a small lighting on a hillside as the aircraft took an automatic course towards it, approaching it, slowly increasing the speed. Then she noticed the battling brothers, beating the crap out of each other like in some crazy Matrix-movie. "He's alive!" she sighed but not yet relieved.

"Yeah, looks that way. I heard he's a tough cookie. Who's the other guy? His brother?"

Emma had nearly forgotten the mystery male voice. In the corner of her eye she saw something with lights speeding towards them and took a better look through the side window. It was too far away to see it clearly and it was too dim already. Whatever it was, it was coming fast like a rocket.

"I'm almost there. Now let see how we can take them down. You've known him longer than I do. Have any suggestions?"

"Just one: go home!"

"Weapons system activated!" a notification light and a message appeared on the screen. "Missiles activated!" another notification followed, and Emma almost jumped in her seat.

She wished she hadn't done that, pulling her hands up from the control panel. "What are you doing? Stop this!" she said in an alarmed tone.

The jet was already close to the hillside where Loki and his brother were fighting and she could see Loki standing there his back towards the jet.

"Can't do that, honey. This guy has pissed off too many people. It's my job to take him down!"

"No! Stop!" Emma screamed as the jet's minigun begun firing down at the hillside, aiming at the Asgardians. She started hitting every button on the control panel trying to make it stop. Without any luck with that, she rushed at the cabin and took the one thing she managed to pull free from the wall, the fire extinguisher, and returned to the cockpit, the minigun's firing rattling outside.

"I'll show you a female pilot!" she shouted and smashed the front panel and the screens, hitting the control panels like crazy with the small extinguisher bottle. Sparks flew from the screens and the front panel, and a smoke of electrical burning filled the cockpit, but she kept hitting it hard.

"Hav... you turn... Hulk? Wha... hell are..." the man's voice was breaking and then it disconnected completely.

The annoying sound of the warning alarm fell silent as she managed to quiet it down and finally the gun firing ended. "That's what I call a system override, you prick!" Emma panted and emptied the foam extinguisher over the broken, sparking front panel.

She sat on the pilot's seat and with a caution tried the control wheel, that by a miracle and against all odds obeyed her once again, but it only moved to the right horizontally.

"Oh, great!" she sighed and gazed down at Loki, who seemed to crawl up on his feet, staring at the direction of the Quinjet with an expression that one could have described looking as fucking mad as a god who had been shot in the arse with a rifle. "Oh crap! He looks very, very pissed," Emma whispered to herself, getting worried. "Please, baby, don't get mad!"

Meanwhile on the ground Thor had used his hammer to shield himself from the gun firing, and Loki just barely managed to avoid the fierce rain of bullets, jumping to a safe distance in a nick of time.

"Let me guess; you played your tricks on her one time too many?" Thor shouted being mad at his brother, spinning his hammer as his shield.

Heavily aggravated by what seemed to be a cheap betrayal, Loki fixed his gaze at the hovering jet and rose on his feet. He couldn't believe that Emma had turned against him in so cowardly and backstabbing way. The minigun's firing ended as unexpectedly as it had begun, and Loki was about to leap on the jet, tearing it apart, when he heard Emma's voice from the jet's loudspeaker:

"Loki? Loki, if you can hear me, I swear that wasn't me! The aircraft wasn't under my control. The S.H.I.E.L.D. They've found us! You need to disappear! Someone is coming after you, right now! "

Loki heard concern in her voice. Either she was lying pretty well to cover up her failed attempt to kill him or then she was telling the truth. He didn't have to wait long to find out the right answer. He noticed something flying towards him and Thor like a rocket, and he moved closer to his brother with sidesteps, keeping his eyes at the approaching thing. It looked like a man-sized robot, and for a moment Loki feared it was humans' very own Destroyer like the one they used to have in Asgard's vault.

Thor glanced at Loki with a small sense of trouble. The woman had sounded seriously worried for his sake. "Whatever you have done, we will face this together, my brother. A truce?" Thor asked.

The god of mischief cast a valuating look at his brother. "Why not? For the old times' sake," he said and gave Thor a small smile and tap on a shoulder, drawing back and at the same time switching their appearances, turning himself looking like Thor and making Thor looking like him.

"I knew you were not beyond reason, Loki," Thor said hopefully and prepared to face the next challenge from the skies as the flying man in a red and golden armor stopped in the air and stayed hovering closer to them than the aircraft.

Emma stared at the robot-like thing that flew passing by the jet. She had once seen that thing in the news a year ago. "Oh no! Ironman?"

"Is this a private party or can anyone join?" Ironman asked, watching at the two creatures that didn't belong on this planet. The woman had spoiled his big entrance, breaking the remote controls of the jet, leaving him one advantage short. _Whose side she was on, anyway?_

"I have no quarrel with you, metal man! What do you want?" Thor asked lifting his hammer at the flying armored man.

"I'm here for Loki!" Ironman informed grimly at the two demigods, pulling out most of his weapons, and aiming at the Loki look-alike, poor Thor, who hadn't any idea of Loki's cheat yet.

Loki, looking like his blond brother, stepped aside calmly, pointing his hand at Thor and said: "He is all yours!" He even sounded like Thor.

"What?" Thor gasped bewildered taking a look at his false double, and himself, only then realizing Loki's game.

But simply too late. Ironman launched his mini-missile at him, tossing Thor with force off from the hillside with an explosion, and then went after him. And they were already on the other side of a great valley, landing somewhere on the other green slope.

As the man in a suit of armor rushed in a fight with Thor, Loki saw his opportunity and he took it, taking a boost on the hillside, leaping high and landing on the roof of the hovering Quinjet.

Emma felt the aircraft rocked in the weight of that unwanted passenger. Worried she stared out into the darkness far away, where the Loki-look-alike and Ironman were fighting, only the lights of Ironman's rocket thrusters glowing in the dark. Then she turned towards the crushed rear hatch. She hadn't seen the switch of the brothers' appearances and believed it was real Thor who was coming after her.

The blond warrior with the red cape leaped in through the big hole, and she jumped up from her seat, grasping the only weapon she found, the small fire extinguisher, stepping to the dim cabin.

The big blond one looked unhappy, walking slowly towards her, the jet rocking with his every step. "Are you mad, woman? You would dare to fight with the mighty Thor?" he roared in a low rough voice.

Emma felt her anger flaring up again. She hated when these godlings kept coming, thinking themselves so much better than humans. Her basic instincts of survival were beginning to making the wrong calls. _Fight or flight?_ _Hell yes, she was going to fight!_

"After what you did to Loki, I will kick you mighty arse back to Asgard!" she yelled at him, unable to control the rage that was taking a hold of her, letting the beast-side of her go free.

The blond one strode to her and Emma hit him fiercely with the extinguisher, kicking and screaming like a cornered animal. He had to make a bit of an effort to disarm her as she fought him more aggressively than earlier in the glacier. She threw a punch in his face, not some girly slap, but a real badass punch and he was surprised by the force of it. He stopped her and locked her arms, unharming her. And as he held her, Loki conjured his illusion away, turning back looking himself.

"Ouch! It is me!" he said more softly, gazing down at her with a bewildered look, holding on from her wrists, taking note she was rather strong for her size, for a human that was. She had come on to him like a wild beast and he was beginning to understand what she had told him about her darker side. She wasn't holding it back now. And it touched him that she would have fought against Thor for his sake, with minimum chances, but still.

Emma saw with her own eyes him changing his appearance with a golden flow, from the blond warrior into the black-haired, beautiful, green-eyed god creature. "Loki?" she gasped and stopped fighting back, but wasn't so sure about that. "No. It's a trick! Loki can do that, I bet so can you!" she doubted, trying to pull her hands free and kicking on his knee.

"Stop that! It is me! Thor has never dabbled with such sorcery." Loki released her wrists only to place his hands gently on her shoulders as if trying to tame her. Thanks to her warning, he had had a chance to slip away from Thor and that flying armored man, and they were still battling outside. "You are mad, but precious, my sweet Valkyrie," he said, smiling to her.

His soft voice and that pet name he'd given to her ended Emma's resistance, leaving her wondering what was going on, taking a time to gather herself. After letting her inner darkness taking control for a while, the adrenaline surging in her veins was calling out for a target to strike. "Why you turned yourself looking like him, you crazy?" she screamed at him.

"Maybe this would clear the doubts off your mind," Loki said and hunched down to kiss her, his right hand moving on the back of her neck and the other sliding down on her back, pulling her near.

His lips were like a cooling spring in a desert and she was dying thirsty, welcoming every drop of a kiss he gave her. She smelled his stirring scent. He smelled so damn good and safe. When he drew back from her, Emma stared up into his eyes, drunken by his kissing, wanting more. "I'm not quite convinced yet," she whispered, intoxicated of him, caressing his cheek, her fingers diving through his black hair on the back of his head and pulling him back to her, pulling his mouth back on her hungry lips.

Loki let out a low moan of passion, his mouth on hers, grabbing her up in his arms, lifting her onto his own level and pushing her against the wall between the cabin and the cockpit. Emma held tight on him, her arms locked around his neck, her legs anchoring around his hips. Her fear of a human touch was only a bad dream when she just wanted to feel him against her, wanted to feel safe in his arms. He owed her a proper kiss, after putting her fearing for his life. He owed her a proper kiss, because she had put her whole life at stake for his sake and she knew she might not see another day.

Sensing she was willing for him, Loki kissed her roughly, letting his tongue slip between her parted lips, tasting her sweet mouth, exploring it until he'd claimed it as his own. And she welcomed him, pushing herself tighter around him. Holding her slender body against his, Loki was aching for her. He had promised her a sunset, and much more, but all they had now was a tiny moment that wasn't enough, not even for starters. "This was just a beginning. I swear," he promised feverishly, parting from her lips.

"Loki…" A faint sigh escaped from her lips like a small prayer. He had surely convinced her. She touched his face with both hands, returning back to reality. "I saw you fall... Are you alright? How can you still be alive?"

They heard a loud clap of thunder as Thor and Ironman kept crossing swords somewhere on the ground. Thor, like so many times before, had spoiled Loki's finest moments. And this time wasn't any differed. Loki let out a resentful groan, taking a quick look outside.

"We take this aircraft..." Loki begun but silenced as he noticed the whole front panel been covered with white foam. "W-what have you done here?" he asked in a puzzled tone, turning at Emma who was still clinging on him like a baby monkey on its mom.

Emma needed to gather her thought after that kiss. "A thank you for saving your butt would be nice! Ironman was controlling of this aircraft. He's the one who was shooting at you, not me. He was going to shoot a missile at you, so, I broke the controls to save your a... um, backside." She took a breath and lowered herself down from him. "He said his backup is coming. What are we going to do, Loki?"

Glancing outside through the hole on the rear hatch, into the darkening countryside, Loki came up with a new plan of escape. With a small grin he beheld Emma, taking a hold of her hand. "Do you still trust me, Emma?"

Emma swallowed, his voice sounding disturbingly mischievous again. "Why do I get a feeling that I'm not going to like this?"

**... ...**

With a cleansing strike of lighting Thor managed to return looking back to his-normal-self, repelling Loki's illusion on him.

There had come a halt in the battle between Thor and Ironman, Tony Stark analyzing his situation again after his inhumanly strong adversary had changed his appearance. "I don't care if you're not the Loki, I'm still going to take you down if you try to mess with me! You don't belong here!" Stark stated, annoyed. His armor had taken damage by that mean hammer and he wasn't going to let it go.

"Loki is my brother and I will deal with him."

"After I'm done with him, he is all yours!" Tony Stark said. "Until then stay out of my way, tourist!"

Thor was about to toss him hammer at the metal man once more, when they noticed the Quinjet speeding away, roaring high above their heads in the darkening sky.

"I'll get them!" Ironman informed, starting his rocket thrusters, lifting from the ground to go after it.

"No, I will get them!" Thor assured, spinning his hammer wildly to fly after the jet.

Neither of them got anywhere near to the jet when they heard a loud explosion and saw how the Quinjet burst apart in front of their eyes, fierce flames eating it away. The both heroes were thrown back on the ground by the huge blast, the burning parts and pieces of the broken jet scattering all over the site.

"Loki!" Thor cried out, pushing himself up on his feet, staring at the remains of the burning aircraft, fearing his brother had been there amongst it. His heart sunk in despair. "No! Loki! No…"

Ironman got up from the ground where the blast had tossed him and stepped next to the Asgardian god, stricken speechless, opening his vizier and looking at the devastation of one of his precious designed jets, pondering had it have something to do with overriding the system, missile failure or something what the woman had done with the controls. "Um... Jarvis, Quinjet's failure report?"

"Stealth mode failure. Rear hatch function failure..."

"Yeah, I get that. I meant what happened to it?"

Thor turned to gaze at the metal man with anger flaring in his heart.

"A complete and utterly destruction. A detonation source, unsecured missiles. No survivors."

"This was your doings!" Thor roared at the man, taking a hold of Ironman's wrist, crushing his armor with his bare hands.

"Can't we talk about this?" Tony Stark asked, worried, feeling his exoskeleton failing to protect him in the clutches of the Asgardian deity.

"No life-forms detected present at the time of explosion," Jarvis told, and Thor eased his grip a bit.

"What?" Thor sighed, starting to get the hang of it. This was Loki they were dealing with after all. "They were not in the aircraft?"

Tony heaved a relieved sigh, Thor letting go of him. "Thank god for that. Not you, the big one!" Tony said pointing up. "So, it was just a trick to fool us?"

"You would not be the first one Loki have fooled."

Sweeping the area with infra-red sensors, Jarvis found nothing expect a flock of sheep, a few passing by vehicles on a nearby road, but nothing that would have linked them to Loki and Emma. It was as if they would have disappeared from the face of Earth.

"I'm not finding anything," Tony Stark informed, "We need to cover a bigger area from high above."

"I had him in my grasp. He escaped and it was your fault!" Thor said resentfully.

His efforts to find his rascal adopted brother with a higher sense was also useless; he had asked telepathically from Heimdall to use his all-seeing eyes to find Loki, but since Loki's presence was carefully shrouded from even the gatekeeper of Asgard, there were no trace of the trickster god anywhere.

… …

"They are long gone. It is safe to get up now. You are back being yourself." Loki's voice was reassuring but slightly amused as he checked his surroundings to find which way to continue in the shades of evening.

Down on a foot of the great green hill Emma cautiously lifted her head above a moving woolen pack, taken aback. No, actually gravely shocked by what had just come to pass. She started at the animals around her and got up on her feet, turning her horrid gaze at Loki who stood there with her.

"I. Was. A. Sheep!" she gasped, touching her herself from heat to knees making sure she was back being her own human self.

Loki gave her a charming mischievous grin unable to curb his enthusiasm. "Wasn't it great? I have not transformed myself into an animal in ages."

Emma shook her head as if that was the most terrible thing she had ever faced. "Oh my god! I. Was. A. Sheep!" she repeated, staring at the flock of sheep around them that had provided them a perfect disguise from their searching party. "That was like a nightmare!"

"It was not that bad. Admit it, you enjoyed it!"

Emma shook her head again, disgusted about the whole matter. "I did not! And… I was so hungry that I think I ate some grass…"

"Well, now we know that you will make a cuddly lamb." Loki chuckled at her genuine and innocent reaction. "Come on! You will get over it," Loki assured, and took a hold of her hand, moving through the herd with her. He helped her climbing over a stony fence and they continued walking along a country road in the darkening evening.

The thought of it still made shivers going down her spine. "You could have at least warned me first! Not just waved your hand and turned me into a freaking critter!" she cried out at Loki, walking side by side with him with two legs now. "Oh, I think I still smell of wool!" she said and took a sniff of herself.

"I saved us. You should be thankful."

"You promised, no more tricks!"

Loki couldn't help himself. He suddenly stopped walking and stared cautiously at the field behind old oaks on the other side of the road. "Oh no! You better watch out for that big mean looking goat that is staring at you!" Loki said in a silent voice, sounding serious.

"Where? I don't see it," Emma said a bit worried, stopping and staring into the darkness with him.

"There. I think it is making eyes at you and checking out your pretty tail. I guess he saw you as a sheep."

"Where?" she squealed in an alarmed tone, hiding her arse from the gazes of some imaginary harassing goat, pushing her tail against Loki.

"Over here!" Loki whispered into her ear over her shoulder, placing his hands on her waist.

Emma felt her heart jumping in to her throat with his sudden touch. She had had enough of excitement for one day already. "Oh, you're evil!"

"Oh, just a bit of fun. Come now, my sweet pet!" he said, chuckling and taking her under his arm. She fitted there perfectly.

To her own surprise it actually felt comfortable to have his arm around her. "Why couldn't you just turn us invisible like you always do?"

"Because, the best place to hide is in plain sight. And I do not simply turn myself invisible, it is more advanced science, you would call it sorcery..."

"You are a big mean horny goat!" Emma snorted, feeling her anxiety settling down, being able to smile a bit with him. They started walking again. "So… you are saying you've done this before? This animal stuff? Not just turning your brother into a frog?"

"A few times, yes."

Emma looked at him suspiciously. "You've ever done anything kinky when being an animal?"

Loki glanced down at her as they were walking. "Define kinky!"

"Ugh! You mean like _how bad and creepy stuff_ you have done? I'm not sure if a want to know…" _And she had already kissed that mouth!_

Loki puckered his brows. "No, I mean, I am not familiar with the word."

Emma let out an uneasy laugh. "Oh, forget it! It's nothing important."

"Sounds like it is. So, what does it mean?" Loki asked, sensing her nervousness about the matter.

"Um, are you familiar with the word _pervert_?"

Loki glared at her, his brows knitting even more. "Yes?" he answered cautiously.

"It's pretty much the same thing… like being a dog and humping someone's le..." Emma stopped, reading from his expression that she shouldn't say another word.

Loki let out a loud sigh, his mouth gaping by her offensive insinuation. "I am going to pretend I did not hear any of that."

"Good. Thanks!" Emma said and bit her lips.

They kept going a while in awkward silence and then Loki turned at her again. "What manner of man you think I am?" he asked, the matter beginning to bother him.

Emma glanced up at him. "I don't know. That's what I'm trying to figure out. I've just met you, and you turned me into a sheep. Now, I'm not the kind of girl who does that on a first date!"

Loki gave her a puzzled look a smile returning to his lips. "Are we being in a courtship now, you and I?"

"It is either that or then you are just rudely dragging me along while you are trying to take over the world."

Loki laughed at her fondly and wrapped his arm around her protectively as they walked along the road. "Who says I can not have both?"

"Seriously? We need to talk about your grand plans to rule this _'realm'_."

"Oh yes. I would need your help with that. You have to tell me everything about..."

"No. I was kind of hoping that you would give up those schemes. A lot of people would protest. Including me."

Loki squeezed her softly, his arm around her. "You will come to your senses, my dear, once you learn to accept it."

"Yeah... How about you coming to your senses too, big guy?" Emma suggested cautiously.

The big guy wanted to change the subject. "You were less overbearing being a sheep. Don't tempt me to transform you again!"

"Wow, who's being overbearing?"

Emma glanced around her in the dim evening. They were somewhere in the middle England's countryside, having no idea where they were going and without a vehicle. She had left her bag in the jet and she only carried 150 American dollars and a credit card she couldn't use because the S.H.I.E.L.D. would have probably traced its transactions. It seemed they were continuing their journey by foot now where ever it would take them. They were a far away from the sunny beaches. Getting caught wasn't an option now when there wasn't just the S.H.I.E.L.D. but also Ironman and Loki's brother after them.

Emma turned back at Loki, a part of glad that they were in this together. She had used to be on the run on her own and it had been scary, having no-one to trust. She had him now but she was also in that situation because of him. "So, what did Thor want with you?"

Loki took a breath to consider his words carefully. "He though he could have beaten me here since he failed to do it in Asgard. I disagreed." A small white lie wouldn't hurt anyone.

"Yeah, I saw it. That was insane! I thought you both were going to die."

"It takes more than that to kill our kinds."

"Good. I prefer you being alive," Emma said in a small voice, wrapping her arm around his back in a bit uncertain way.

Loki turned at her with a smile, holding her under his arm. It felt good to be so close. "As do I. So, you want to hear the worse thing I have done as being an animal?"

"Do I?"

"You already met Thor. There was this other time, in our early childhood; I transformed myself into a snake, because I knew how much Thor loved snakes..."

"Oh god! You can turn yourself into a snake?"

"Yes, and here comes the best part. When he picked me up to admire the creature..."


	11. 11 Kindness returned

Loki had stabbed him! Once again, Thor frowned, staring at the wreckage of the destroyed jet, thinking about his unsuccessful reunion with his brother. Loki must have been the worst brother there was, but still Thor loved him, and hated at the current moment. They had used to be so close, always as true brothers and now he wasn't so sure about that.

He knew Loki had always been on the side mischief, but he couldn't understand what had changed his brother's heart so entirely against him. Of course Loki had learned the truth about his true parentage. That had also taken aback Thor himself, but still it didn't change anything they had shared and done together in the past. Thor wanted to take Loki back home and stop him hurting mortals, especially those one he loved.

The god of thunder raised his gaze up at the dark sky from where two Quinjets were descending towards the site of the wreckage. The man in the metal armor had told that there where other people coming to searching for Loki too.

"Thor? You're back awful soon," agent Coulson greeted the Asgardian prince, walking out from the just landed Quinjet with a group of agents that were soon all around the place cleaning up the mess. Phil Coulson was thankful though, for having all the help they could get, even Asgardian. _Who better to capture an evil god than another god?_

"Son of Coul, I am afraid our reunion is not as joyful as it should have right to be," Thor said to his newly found friend, meeting with Coulson.

"Where's Loki? And Ms. Morgan?" Coulson asked from Thor and Ironman, who had made a pact for co-operation.

"We lost him, Phil," Tony said, annoyed to admit his defeat that had dented his ego worse than Thor's hammer his suit. "We've been checking the area and there are no traces of either of them."

Thor pointed his finger at the metal man. "He lost my brother!" he said for a clearance. "The woman, I do not know who she is, but she was helping Loki."

"Yeah? No shit?" Tony huffed, and Thor glanced at himself discreetly making sure there were no more sheep droppings on him. "That girlie destroyed the controls of the Quinjet when I was remote controlling it, getting on the upper hand. I could have taken him down without her interference, and his," Tony explained nodding his head at Thor.

Coulson frowned at the big grown up men who were blaming at each other like kids. "We are not looking for people to blame. We are looking for a dangerous creature from outer space that is a real threat to international security. Earth does not need an ancient god meddling on our affairs and causing chaos wherever he goes," he said and then glanced at Thor. "No offence!"

"None taken," Thor answered dryly. "But Loki is my brother and he is of Asgard, and once we find him I will take him to face Asgardian justice."

"If it would be up to me, you could have him," Coulson said, "but director Fury wants us to capture him and held in captivity for his crimes committed on Earth."

"Where is this Fury? I would like to have a word with him!"

"Later! We still have a job do to!"

"One more thing, son of Coul," Thor said in a softer tone, "Jane. I fear for her sake. Loki may want to take his revenge on me through her."

Agent Coulson nodded in understanding. "We'll make sure she stays safe."

"Thank you, my friend."

They heard the sirens of local fire- and police departments drawing on near and saw the flashing red and blue lights approaching the site. Coulson pulled one of his agents closer. "Keep the local forces at bay until the area is clear, understood!" he ordered.

"Yes, sir."

A red-haired woman in a dark S.H.I.E.L.D. uniform walked to them with a grim expression. "Where's he? I want Loki's head for what he did to Barton!" Natasha Romanoff announced stepping next to Coulson, giving a short glance at Thor and Ironman. Clint Barton was alive and treated, but she was severely pissed of what that godling had done to her good friend.

Thor couldn't help but to smile at the woman's defiance. "Why do not you leave this to us?"

"Oh-oh!" Ironman sighed being familiar of her spirits. That was like telling her to leave this to the big boys.

Natasha had her pistol aiming straight at Thor's forehead before he made another move. "A legend or not, you stay out of my way!"

"Alright. That's enough! We're on the same side here," agent Coulson reminded, and annoyed she put her pistol away. "I have asked roadblocks on every road in range of 30 miles. Every airport, harbors, buss and railroad stations are in high alert. The problem seems to be that he's able to change his appearance. Is that correct, Thor?"

Thor nodded. "He is a master of magic. And I am afraid it is difficult to find him unless he wants to be found."

"Then where do we start?" Natasha asked impatiently. "He could be anywhere?"

Thor noticed the flock of sheep roaming on the other side of the steep field, and recalled the time when Loki had transformed himself into a snake. _Could it be that simple?_ "Gather all the sheep. I will subject them to my Mjölnir," he said, striding towards the herd, hoping thus to reveal Loki's possible illusion.

The humans glanced at each other disgusted, not wanting to even know what he meant by that.

"Err, right?" Tony Stark grimaced doubtfully. "I don't think the sheep would like that! So, keep your mjöl-whatever in your pants."

Thor gave an offended look at the metal man, lifting his hammer in the air, a lighting striking from the weapon. "This. Is. Mjölnir!"

"Oh, awkward! Thanks for the clarification!"

Natasha watched as the god of thunder marched down the hill with his mighty hammer. "Is this guy serious?" she asked from Coulson.

"I saw him stopping a huge armored automaton that used an alien technology back in New Mexico. Our weapons did nothing to that thing; it destroyed everything from its path. As I understood, it was this same Loki who sent that thing on Earth. Thor took it down only with his hammer. He might be out of the ordinary but he's our best chance to stop his brother."

"Then what about Emma Morgan? Why would she help Loki?" Natasha asked, unable to understand it.

"Well, Loki is one loony deity, talking about a major father figure, and she has got some serious daddy issues! You know what that's like," Tony Stark explained carelessly.

Natasha glared at him under her brows. "I wouldn't know. Why you ask me?"

Tony grimaced. "Er… I didn't ask specifically from you. You look great by the way, agent Romanoff. Have you done something to you hair? New color or a cut?"

**... ...**

Somewhere beyond a couple of hills the squealing sirens of the emergency vehicles fell silent, giving Emma and Loki some kind of picture how far they had made from the site of the Quinjet's explosion site.

"So, we are going to stop a car and ask nicely if they could give us a lift. No killing, no threatening, no pulling out weapons, no turning into wild creatures! Pretty please!" Emma begged from Loki when they reached on a bigger road with some traffic after walking a couple of miles on footpaths and small country roads.

Loki would have wanted to disagree but lifted his hands up to surrender by her terms. "If you say so."

"Good. We are in England. People are polite here." Emma was relieved, lowering down her shoulders, giving a valuating look at his and hers outlooks. Loki wore his Asgardian clothes with a long cape and she was still in her sweater and trousers fitting better in a winter climate. He looked like he was on his way for some serious LARPing. "No-one's going to stop, if we look like this," she pondered aloud. "Especially you!"

Loki glanced down at his outfit, offended. "What is wrong with my clothing?"

"Nothing, I'm sure if you're an Asgardian king in Asgard, but here that might be considered a bit too... overdressed."

"That is because of you mortals lacks grace and elegance."

"And we are not suppose draw too much attention either. They are still somewhere out there looking for us. And more of them are coming."

Loki gave her a small grin. "Would you rather be a sheep then?"

Emma answered that with a cautious fake laugh. "No, thank you."

She heard a car coming and saw the lights approaching from around a small bend, taking a glance at that direction of the road. "Alright, we've just got to try and hope that those guys are not from the S.H.I.E.L.D.," she said and turned at Loki.

In that tiny moment he had changed his outlooks, wearing a fine black slim-fit suit, a long jacket and matching trousers, a white shirt beneath with a dark-green vest, a black tie and a long dark-green scarf with golden patterns around his neck. His raven hair was neat and combed slickly back, and he looked a smart handsome gentleman.

"Wow!" Emma sighed being smitten by his looks, staring at him mouth open in the headlights of the car passing by. Not that there had been anything wrong with his own outfit, except it had made him looking intimidating, but now he looked simply gorgeous and even more human than ever. He definitely had an eye for details.

With contented expression on his face Loki knew he wouldn't have to ask, but he asked anyway. "Better?"

"Oh yeah!" Emma barely managed to answer, girlishly smiling. He was taking her breath away. "That is a neat trick! I wish I could do that. No more bad hair days, ever. Could you possibly...?" She hadn't yet noticed that her own clothes were changed as well, until she took a tottering step back and heard a click of her high heels on the tarmac.

"What on earth?" she gasped, taking a look at herself. Another car came by and in its lights she, found herself wearing a little black dress, the skirt of it barely reaching on the half way of her thighs, black high heel shoes with heels too high for her taste, black tights, and a perfectly fitting dark-green jacket with golden embroidery. She felt her hair done too, her long locks curled like a professional hairdresser would have done them that could have easily taken an hour or two. She ran her hands over her dress, the fabric of it feeling smooth and soft as a satin. It was real not just some illusion.

Loki relished his small piece of work of magic, feasting his eyes on her enhanced outlook. She was a true beauty, a pocked-sized Venus with her golden hair and blue eyes and a dress that flattered her shapes. She wouldn't have had any reason to been hiding herself from the world. Loki felt suddenly lucky he had found her first. He wished he could have conjured her into a safe place and take out to play with him whenever he would have wanted to. He could have taken her as his plaything, but, she was far more complicated than that. "Hm, you look ravishing," he admitted in a desirous tone, sending chills down her spine.

Someone else seemed to think that too. The bright yellow car passing by honked at her a couple of times and she didn't have to guess why, feeling herself way too exposed. She had never been comfortable in such clothes. The car stopped 7 feet away and a young man's head peeked out through the opened side window, aloud techno music pumping in the background. "Hey, love! If you wanna a ride, show us your tits!" the youngster offered.

Emma gasped, offended. "No thanks! You go back to you mom, prick!" Emma shouted at him, taking note that they were also on the wrong side of the road, since there was left-hand side traffic. The young man's friends howled in laughter and the car kept going on. _Apparently it was Friday evening._ "So much for being polite!"

Loki frowned at the youngsters and lifted his hand towards the moving car, but Emma put his hand down. "Don't even think about it!"

Loki looked at her choked. "You would let them get away without being punished? They offended your honor!"

"Yeah. Don't think I liked that, but they were idiots and drunk. If I would go killing everyone by those criterias I would soon be pretty much alone on this planet." She wasn't even going get started with all he had done and the way he had offended her.

Loki gave her a tempting smile. "But then the world would be all ours."

She took one more glance at herself shaking her head, and then lifting her eyes at him. _This was freaking scary!_ She felt herself like a Barbie doll. If he could change her clothing into whatever he pleased, she could soon be walking nude or in some sick latex cat suit. Not mentioned, he could transform her into a wild creature. That was even scarier. _A sheep in latex? Oh, hell no!_

"Now, this is... um...nice, if I would be _a tart_. But I want more skirt! I have shirts with longer bottom than this!"

_It was hard to believe she was the same defiant woman he had met on the glacier_, Loki thought admiring her. He moved closer and caressed her cheek with a back of his fingers, cupping her neck and leaning even closer. With her high heels she was in better reach for his lips. _How come he hadn't thought of this before? _

Every time he touched her like that felt like he'd put a spell on her, making her realized how much she really had craved for tenderness and a touch. She leaned to him, reaching her hands on his shoulders, feeling the luxurious touch of his black cashmere suit under her fingers and the silky scarf around his neck.

The warm tingling feeling filled him as he saw how she had learned to appreciate his touch. "You are beautiful, my Valkyrie," he reassured softly, sharing a small kiss with her. If she would have been a jewel in the Asgardian treasure vault, she may have not been he biggest diamond there is but certainly the brightest one capturing his attention.

The way she had responded to his kiss earlier in the aircraft was still fresh in his memory. And he didn't dare to continue further on with the kissing because if he would have given into his longings now, he feared they wouldn't have been able to stop this time. They probably would have ended on the bottom of a ditch, rolling deep in their passion. And that was not the way he wanted it to happen. He had to remind himself about their chasers as well.

He noticed another vehicle approaching from the other direction and took her hand and walked with her on the other side of the road, Emma not so confident with her high heel shoes. He stayed on the driveway and gave her a confident glance. "Now, we are taking this vehicle!" he said in a self-assured voice and lifted his hands forward as if he would have been planning to stop the car with his bare hands.

Emma watched him and the car worried. "Be careful, please!" she begged for both of their sakes; his and the car's passengers, the headlights of the car reaching closer. Somewhere further beyond the hills, she noticed two flying aircrafts rising high on the dark sky, their lights sweeping the land below. _So, the S.H.I.E.L.D. was drawing on closer, looking for Loki and her._

An old red Rolls Royce slowed down its speed and finally stopped in front of Loki as he made no move to step aside. The side window opened and an old grey gentleman and a lady peeked out from it with unpleased curiosity. "Good heavens, lad! What were you doing standing in the middle of the road in this darkness?" the old man said in an unpleased tone with rich British accent.

Loki rolled his eyes, leaning down to talk with the people in the car, his arm on the roof of the car. The man had called him a lad, and he was the oldest being on the face of Earth right after his brother. He could see that Emma was nearly holding her breath, fearing he would do something unthinkable, as she was tottering closer to them.

Loki gave the old folk a charming smile, revealing his perfect teeth. "Good evening, my good man. We are in a desperate need of transportation. Our vehicle broke down a few miles back and my..." he glanced at Emma who reached by his side, "wife is feeling unwell."

"What?" Emma sighed, after him calling her his wife. She glanced at him and then at the old couple inside the car dumbfound. "Um, yes, I'm not feeling very good." _In these bloody shoes and this damn dress! And the aircrafts drawing on closer. The S.H.I.E.L.D. was going to find them and kill them!_

"Oh dear!" the lady heaved a compassioned sigh, giving her a short glance of '_no wonder in that outfit_'. "Well, I am sure we could take you to the nearest village, can't we, darling?"

The gentleman let out a small grunt, being polite, but gritting his teeth for the tall stranger touching his precious car. "Very well then. Do get in!"

Emma glanced once more at the direction of the Quinjets. They were still far ahead. "Oh, thank you so much. You are lifesavers!" she said as Loki opened a door for her and let her sitting on the backseat.

The aircrafts hadn't gone unnoticed by him but Loki decided not to worry about them. He circled the car carelessly and sat on the other side. The old Royce rocked slightly under his weight as he got in, unpleasantly hunching sideways inside the car since these mortals were incapable of making vehicles better fitting for his size.

Trying to forget about the aircrafts and pulling down her too bold skirt, Emma turned at Loki. Forehead furrowing Loki stared down at a young black-haired boy by his side that sat between them two. The boy must had not been more than eight years old, dressed in a dark grey suit, being full immersed in his game on a cell phone, not seeing or hearing anything what was going on around him.

"Hi!" Emma said to the boy, who paid no attention to her. Loki and Emma exchanged confused glances. _It was a good thing they hadn't tried to steal the car, ending up with the kid on the backseat._

"Damien, say hello to the young couple!" the older lady told to her grandson.

"Hm... hello," the boy murmured, not lifting his eyes from the small screen.

_Damien? If a kid with that kind of name wasn't an omen then she didn't know what was, _Emma thought feeling uneasy.

"Why you keep tormenting those creatures?" Loki asked gazing down at the game, where the little red birds were firing themselves with a huge slingshot against the green pigs.

"The green pigs have stolen the birds' eggs. And the birds got angry, wanting the eggs back. I have to slay all the pigs to get to the next stage."

Loki pouted a bit. "Hm, that makes perfect sense."

"Do not mind of our grandson. He is always so fascinated with his little games. So, tell me, where you two are heading?" the lady asked in a friendly voice, giving Loki a short gaze over her shoulder.

Loki picked up a few names from the passing by road signs. "To London, for starters."

"Oh, you still have an awfully long way to go without your car."

"Yes, well, we don't plan too much far ahead. Our journey has been a quite adventure on so far," Emma said stressing the word adventure, as if talking to Loki.

"Are you Americans?" the gentleman asked, watching at Emma through the rearview mirror.

"I am from the States, and he's..."

"An Asgardian," Loki stated calmly, sifting slightly to a better position, still hunching.

Emma frowned. "He's from Norway."

"Oh, how charming to have foreign visitors. You are fluent in English, young man."

"I know." Loki did his best to answer with a smile. He could speak perfectly every language in the know universe.

"What brings you to England? Business or pleasure?"

"Both!" Loki answered quickly, his eyes on Emma, hearing that question on the second time on his visit on Earth. With a broadening smile he continued: "I am endeavoring to gain recognition in… my area of expertise."

_Oh crap! Here we go again!_ Emma bit her tongue, staring at him looking suffering. She noticed a Quinjet flying high above over the road. _Don't freak out the old folks by saying something stupid about taking over the world! Not now!_

"Interesting. What would that be?"

"I am meant to become the king..." Loki told with a self-assured voice sounding like a king.

"Of magic!" Emma hurried to filling in. "He... he's a magician."

Loki glanced at Emma with a smirk. "Not just that. I am a god..."

"Yes! Really, a god of illusions. He's very, very talented," she said, giving him a murderous glare. _She needed to say something to change the subject. _"We are actually on our honeymoon, but he keeps talking about his work all the time. And I mean all the time."

_Well, he's the one who called her his wife._ She stared out through the side window. It seemed the Quinjet kept going, not stopping by, thankfully.

Usually he'd hated to been interrupted, but now Loki couldn't hide his smile, watching at Emma. For this once his truth didn't please her. And she actually sounded like they would have been married. _That had been the shortest courtship ever!_ He was going to enjoy this little game of theirs, taking his role as a newlywed husband with a profound dedication.

"Well, my darling, that is what puts bread on the table," he said in a playful way and got Emma's puzzled glance.

"Oh, how fascinating. Can you believe, Howard? A magician in our car," the old lady got excited. "I am sorry but I didn't catch your names."

"I am Loki, of Asgard."

"His stage name. I'm Emma and he's Loki…um… Odinson."

"A pleasure to meet you, Mr. and Mrs. Odinson. We are Mr. and Mrs. Grey. Oh, and congratulation for both of you. When did you marry?"

Emma shrugging: "Just recently." Loki with a confident: "Yesterday." The boy between them: "Yeess! A new record!"

The boy lifted his eyes from his game and took a puzzled look around him, studying Emma and Loki with a tiny frown. "If you're married, where's your rings?" he asked in a scolding tone.

"Damien, remember manners."

Emma smiled a bit. "It's alright. We don't..."

Loki stretched his hand at Emma over the boy. "Here. I kept your ring safe for you, my dear," he said offering her a ring he just conjured. It was dim in the car but in the light of boy's cell phone she saw that it was a stunning, wide golden ring with a green stone and some carvings. She had never seen anything like that, not even close. It must have been worth more than her whole live savings.

"Can we afford this?" Emma gasped, taking the ring he was handing out for her. Then she pulled herself together. It was all just an act and made with his magic. "That was what I first asked when he gave this to me," she said explaining to the boy, hesitating to place the ring into her finger. It fitted perfectly and she gazed at Loki with bewildered eyes. _It was scary how well he knew her._

"And I said, if you would marry me I will make you my queen," Loki said with a gentle voice, looking back at her as if he would have really meant it on that moment. Emma just keep gazing at him like he would have put her under his spell, she would have kissed him if the boy wouldn't have been blocking her way.

Damien took a short glance at the couple on both side of him, making an expression like he was going to barf. "You two need to get a room!" he stated in a snappy way.

"Young man, I will not tolerate such language!"

Damien and Loki both glanced at the ordering lady in the front seat with a baffled look.

"And no more games this evening!" the lady continued.

"But, Nana!"

"No buts. And like I have told you, you should play more with your real friends not with your games."

As the old lady kept talking with Emma, the boy snorted, pursing up his lips and lowering his head down. "I don't have stupid friends," he murmured in a whispering volume, squeezing the phone in his palms.

Much to his own great surprise Loki found that he felt empathy towards the young boy by his side, their conversation sending him down to his own memory lane with Frigga that had been centuries ago. Thor had always been the only one he had considered his friend, but the others, they had been Thor's friends, not his, never his friends. Loki heaved a sigh, leaning down at the boy. "Who needs friends, anyway?" he asked in a silent voice, and Emma raised her brows questioningly.

Damien looked up at the tall, dark man, puzzled, giving a small shake of head. "Not me! I manage just fine without them. The other boys in school are mean, calling me names..." he said equally quietly.

"Do they bully you?"

Damien hesitated but rose a bit to whisper something into Loki's ear as Loki hunched down to listen. He let out a small grunt of disapproval, his eyes squinting. "Hmm, that is mean. Well, the next time when someone bullies you, I want you to…" he told the rest only to the boy, whispering it to his ear.

Damien listened, his eyes growing larger. "That is wicked!" he whispered in an excited tone, staring at Loki with a mighty grin.

Loki grinned back at him lifting his eye brows in a wicked way. "Oh, I guarantee it is," he reassured in a dark, mischievous tone.

Keeping up the conversation with the lady and the old gentleman in the front seat, Emma watched at the two evil schemers, her eye brows in a disapproving frown. She noticed how much they looked alike, as if she would have been staring at Loki as a child. And they were getting along with each other a bit too well. It was adorable and scary at the same time.

"Hey, do you want to play?" the boy asked from Loki, offering him the phone.

Loki shook his head. "No, thank you."

"Are you really a magician? Can you do tricks? Please, show me a trick! Please!"

Loki hated to be called merely a magician, but he relented under Damien's begging requests, giving the boy a cunning smile. "Tell me, Damien, do you like snakes?" he asked, pulling two small black serpents out of his both sleeves.

Emma tried not to scream and scare the older couple. "Are those poisonous?" she asked whispering, looking mad and horrid by his trick.

"Very," Loki smiled.

"Oh god, I need to get out of his car," Emma gasped keeping her voice down, not wanting to be anywhere near the snakes, doing her best to remind herself that those were only his illusions. At least that's what she hoped.

Damien looked thrilled, wanting to touch the creatures. "Oh, I love snakes. Can I hold one?" he asked, and Loki made another trick, turning the two snakes into a one bigger one, letting the boy have it.

"Wow! That's a wicked trick!" Damien sighed, taking the slithering serpent in his hands and petted it fondly. "I have one as a pet. Its name is Phantom. It eats mice, alive ones."

"Really?"

"Yes. And, once I hid it in my sister's bed when she had friends for a sleepover. They all screamed like girls!" Damien explained excitedly and let out a triumphant laugh.

The god of mischief laughed with him, admiring the boy's fondness for good pranks. "I like this young one. Can we keep him?" Loki asked, lifting his eyes at Emma who already seemed troubled of their mutual interest for mischievousness and snakes.

Emma breathed slowly, keeping her eyes away from the serpent. "Are you sure his is not your son?" she mouthed without a word.

Loki answered to her with a grin. "I wish."

"It is less than ten minutes to the nearest village but I fear they have no car rental service or a garage there," the gentleman informed, stopping in a crossroad.

"We'll think of something from there. And we are very grateful for you help."

"You can stay in our place tonight. I know we have room. Oh, can they come, Nana? Please, say yes!" Damien suggested keenly, holding the snake away from his grandmother's gaze.

"Well, I can't see why not."

Emma wasn't sure if that was a good idea. "We don't want to be trouble."

"Oh, you won't. You see, we are running a small accommodation establishment. You would be more than welcome."

"That sounds lovely but we may not be able to pay..."

"Nonsense, dear. It is your honeymoon after all. We like to do some charity, and what is the better investment to the future than a happy young couple. Besides you seem to get along with our Damien so well that we would be happy to have you, for free of charge, of course."

Emma didn't know what to say, exchanging looks with Loki. But he did, eagerly taking advantage of the given opportunity. "Then we will accept your most gracious offer, my dear lady Grey," he said with his most charming way possible.

"Yes!" Damien chuffed in an excitement and turned at Loki again. "I will show you all my collections of trading cards and my action figures."

"Sounds... fascinating," Loki said a bit confused. It seemed he had made a new friend. It would have been great if all the humans would accept him so easily, as an authority though.


	12. 12 Room for doubt

When the old Rolls Royce drove in front of an amazing, old-fashion, three-storey high manor house made of grey stone, Emma couldn't speak. It lied in a middle of green flourishing gardens with statues, flowers, trimmed shrubs and a pond, and it looked like they would have arrived in some Jane Austen's book's movie set. What she had had in mind had been a nice, little, picturesque bed-and-breakfast inn with small attic rooms, but this was something a quite different.

Being relieved for getting finally out from the inconvenient backseat, Loki behaved like a gentleman and opened the door for Emma, helping her out from the car in her tiny dress. With one valuating glance he made his opinion about the place where they had been brought to. _It was not bad._ It could do for a small asylum, a place to take a breath, rest and polish his plans. He knew Thor was out there somewhere looking for him, so were the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents and the metal man. But as long as they hadn't caught him, he was going to enjoy his stay on this planet, and scheming to take over the whole realm.

Loki's eyes met with Emma's as she got out from the car holding on his hand. "I know, it does not match the splendor of the Asgardian palace, but I guess this would have to do for now," Loki said carelessly with a low tone.

"Oh, you are so humble that it makes me want to cry," Emma put it out sarcastically as they followed the older couple through the main entrance, she admiring everything around her. "Maybe this is below your standards, but I have been living four months in a freaking shack in the middle of nowhere seeing nothing but snow. Not that I'd be complaining, but to me this is the closest thing to heaven I've ever been."

Loki grabbed her gently from her waist and pulled closer to him. "Hm, you have not seen anything yet. Once we get some privacy I will take you to Valhalla," he whispered into her ear with a smooth voice, and Emma felt her knees getting weaker and it wasn't just because of her high heel shoes.

"Um… was that a threat or a promise?" she asked timidly.

"That would be the desired result."

Loki felt a yank of a small, warm hand on his as Damien was trying to get his attention.

"Come on, Loki! I want to show you my room!" the boy said, pulling from the hand of the god of mischief without an effect. It was like he would have been trying to move a mountain.

"Damien, darling, do not be rude to our guests," the old lady scolded the boy as they reached in the entrance hall. "Mr. Odinson must be tired after his troublesome journey."

Loki heaved a long sigh, staring down at Damien to whom they owed thanks for the glorious accommodation for a night. He couldn't deny it that the boy reminded him of himself as a child when he had been trying to get Odin's attention by any means. But still he couldn't understand why he did this. "I would be delighted to see your living quarters, young Mr. Grey," he said to the boy.

The old lady smiled delightedly. "Oh? That is very kind of you, Mr. Odinson. Damien dear, remember to wash your hands. The dinner is in ten minutes. If you'll excuse me, I will see that you will be checked in, in person," she said in a highly admiring tone and went to the reception. Loki's polished behavior had apparently made a great impression to their hostess. But the old Mr. Grey stalked out of the lobby in a sulking silence, probably not so eager of having non-paying customers around.

"This way, Loki!" Damien yelped, excited, leading the way.

Emma looked troubled as she stopped him, rising to her toes even more to speak with Loki privately. "Can I trust you with him? You're not going to turn him into a mouse to be eaten by his own pet snake, are you?" she asked whispering.

"You have so little faith in me?" Loki asked with an offended look, but gave her a grin then. "But that would be a wicked idea!" he continued as he was walking along with the boy out of her sight.

The lady Grey stopped Emma as she was about to ran after the two snake lovers. "So, you have been checked in now and here are your keys. I hope you and your charming husband could join us to dinner. That would be served in the dinning hall, left from here."

Emma took the key cards handed to her, still completely baffled by all what was going around her. The beauty of the manor itself made her fell speechless as they stood in the spacious lobby/lounge right next to the reception. She and Loki were supposed to be on the run not on some luxury vacation. "Thank you, Mrs. Grey. I'm sure we will," she managed to answer. She was terribly hungry and that dinner invitation sounded too good to be true.

"I am sorry to say but you look lost, dear. Do you still feel unwell?"

"Oh, I'm fine now. It has been a very trying day."

"Well, it is lovely you have so thoughtful and courteous husband. I am sure he takes good care of you. He reminds me of my dear Howard. You don't find men like them so often in these modern days."

"Well yes... I'm sure that there are no men like him, not on this planet anyway."

Lady Grey let out a tiny laugh and Emma joined her reluctantly. "I see he gets along splendidly with children. I must say I haven't seen Damien so excited in a long time. You see, his father, my darling Nathaniel, passed away two years ago. He was taken from us too early. A terrible accident it was. The poor boy hasn't really gotten over it yet."

So that's why the Greys took them in for free, Loki being like a temporary father-figure to the boy. _Maybe not the best possible role-model there was!_ "I'm so sorry to hear that, Mrs. Grey."

"Thank you, dear. It is sad and unfortunate, but, life must go on." The old lady was silent a short moment but then turned at Emma with a kind smile. "So, when were you planning to have your own? Children?"

"Um?" Emma gasped, turning the ring in her finger nervously. _Never! She had just met that trickstering alien!_ If it was up to her, she would take the keys and lock herself in her room, and not letting Loki anywhere near her after that question. "We are both concentrating in our work at the moment. His career is just in the beginning. He is making name for himself. I believe he wants to take over the world at first, in the magic business, that is."

"You are still young people, but do not wait too long."

Emma grimaced. "Thank you, really. But if you don't mind I would like to go powdering my nose." The words Emma never thought she would say, but she needed to end that conversation. And she assumed that was a polite way to put it out. She usually never used makeup. She didn't even own a lips stick or a powder.

"Of course, ladies room is on the right on the end of that corridor."

After finding the sanctuary of the empty ladies room, Emma kicked off her shoes and slumped against the table in front of the mirrors, pulling the ring off from her finger. She was nearly hyperventilating, thinking about the mess she had gotten herself into. No good could ever come out of it. Had it only been three, four days ago when she had been happily unaware listening voices from space in Greenland? It felt like it would have been at least three weeks ago. And Loki, it felt like she would have known him for ages and still she knew so little of him. They were now around other people. _What if he would freak out again_?_ What if his brother would show up? They would destroy the whole place if they'd end up in a fight!_

And Loki was there with that kid now. _What if he would…? No! He wouldn't ever hurt a child_, she reasoned and was certain of it.

Emma tried to concentrate into her breathing and opened the cold tap, washing her hands. Before she splashed the water to her face, she glanced herself through the mirror. Her own reflection took her by surprise, leaving her staring at her image. After Loki conjuring her new outlooks, she had been afraid she would be looking like a cheap tart, but instead, her reflection showed a side of her she didn't know existed. Her long golden hair was in soft curls, she had golden and dark eye shadows that against her believe made her blue eyes look bigger and bright and some subtle red shade on her lips. The clothes she was wearing fitted her perfectly, not making her look cheap, but sophisticated and the combination of the dark-green and black on her was decorous and stylish.

It was hard to believe that the reflection in the mirror was hers. A tear rolled down on her cheek. She looked beautiful just as he had told her. A small part of her melted again. Maybe Loki was more thoughtful that she would have guessed. Just maybe, he would take a good care of her, who knows. She had no plans with him nor with anything else at the moment, only a strong will for staying alive. Could she ran away and stay alive, hiding from the S.H.I.E.L.D. without him? She had always run away from her problems. And now she was dealing with a big, big problem named Loki. He was the reason she was being on the run.

Not mentioned they had given an impression to their kind hosts that they were a newlywed couple and it was a bit too late to correct that. And ominously it seemed that Loki had a pretty good idea what the honeymoon was all about.

She picked up the golden ring from the table and took a seat on a cushioned bench to admire the ring in a better light. It was amazing with beautiful carvings and a frosted absinth green emerald. If that was real, it would have been worth of a fortune. She could have sold it to a pawnshop and get enough money to start anew. Emma had no idea what to do even she cared for him a lot. It felt like her sanity had taken a day off leaving her lost in a foreign country with an alien guy who was on the most wanted list of several people. He was probably going to get her killed. _Yeap, she was definitely out of her mind if she would stay with him any longer!_

... ...

When he crossed a threshold of the territory of an eight years old, Loki thought that he entered into a whole new realm. Damien showed eagerly his own chambers to his guest, explaining things to Loki who had no idea what they were. Loki let his gaze wander around inside the spacious and comfortable room.

Everything was in perfect order. The books and toys were on their own places, a lap top computer on the table, pencils organized by color. There were pictures of odd imaginary creatures on the walls, things that Loki had not seen even in his wildest dreams, among some artistic paintings. There were also photos of the boy's family on the bookshelf.

"Are these your parents?" Loki asked, studying the images of smiling people.

"That's my mom and dad," Damien told pointing at the photograph of a couple with him in the picture, pulling out a few books of his trading card collections from the shelf.

"Where are they now?"

Damien was quiet for a moment. "There was some charity event they had to go. I'm staying here with my grandmother and –father when they're not home. I stay here a quite lot actually."

Loki made a small circle in the room glancing around him, then staring at a big picture of a red car with blue eyes and big grinning mouth, shaking his head amused by it. "Do you have any brothers?"

"No, only one older sister." Damien noticed Loki looking at the poster of the Cars. "That's the Lightning McQueen, the fastest car in the world."

_Of course it had to be Lightning!_ Loki let out a snort with a dry smile, not meanly. "How is your sister like?"

The boy sat on the bed, flipping thought the pages of his book. "She's alright. A bit bossy but nice most of the time."

"What if she would be arrogant and underestimating you in every turn, stealing all the glory of your achievements?" Loki asked in a serious tone as he walked closer to the boy.

Damien frowned. "I would put Phantom in her bed again," he said with a firm determination and they exchanged mischievous grins.

Loki sat on the side of the bed, next to the young one. He felt strangely comfortable to talk with Damien. The boy seemed to have a loving family around him, just as he had once thought he did. _What a joke that have turned out to be!_ "What would you do, if one day your parents would tell you that you are adopted?"

"Huh? Am I?" Damien asked puzzled, gazing at him, his eyes suddenly growing big. "Are you my real dad?" he asked nearly excited.

"No! Heavens no!" Loki alarmed. "It was only a theoretical question."

Damien looked a bit disappointed. "Oh, well, that's depends... What would my real parents be like?"

Loki got serious. To him this wasn't just a theoretical matter. "Hideous monsters."

Damien grimaced. "Then I would be glad that I'm adopted," he answered quickly but then gave a lot of thought about that. "Unless I would be a monster too, which makes it difficult, if I would be adopted to a normal human family. Maybe I would be better to stay with my real parents in that case."

"But what if you wouldn't want to be a monster like your real parents?"

Damien shrugged, pondering hard. "If I wouldn't be able to change what I am, I guess I just have to try to live with it, becoming the nicest monster there is, except for those who would bully me. I would kick their butts with my awesome monster powers!" he announced, giving a mighty smile at Loki, hoping to possess those monster powers to show his own bullies a lesson.

Loki nodded with a small smile, wishing that he too would be able to accept his own monster parentage. He wasn't ever going to become the nicest Frost Giant there is, though. They sat there a moment, Damien showing Loki his treasures of action figures and trading cards, Loki not really impressed by any of it. But he tried his best to act interested.

"This was lovely, truly a mind-expanding experience. Thank you. But I believe it is your time to go on that dinner now," Loki told to the boy, wanting to return to Emma.

"I guess so," Damien sighed, getting up and placing his books back to the bookshelf. "I would have liked to show you my snake but he's at home. Nana won't let me bring Phantom here after that time when he got lost and ended up in one of the guest's room."

Loki gave the boy a curious glance. "So, what happened then?"

The boy tried not to smirk. "I've never seen a grown-up man running so fast and screaming like a girl."

They both laughed, Loki remembering those snake trick he used to do to the Asgardians ending up with the pretty much same results.

As he was getting up, his eyes caught up with a small blue creature on the lower shelf. It was a stuffed doll, with a big nose and funny white hat and Jotun-blue skin. Loki frowned staring at it. "What is that?" he asked pointing at it.

Damien picked it up and handed it to Loki. "That's a smurf. I got it when I was two years old. I'm not playing with it anymore."

"_This_ is a smurf?" Slightly mouth opened Loki beheld the blue creature, recalling Emma calling him that. _Was this what she thought of him? She had the oddest sense of humor._ "What does it do? Is it a beast?"

"No," the boy smirked with a laugh. "It lives in a little mushroom house in a smurf village with its friends and they smurfs all day long. Don't you have smurfs in Norway?"

"No, we don't. Can I borrow this?" Loki asked turning the stuffed doll in his hands.

"You can have it, if you want. Do you like it?"

"No, but Emma is overly fond of these… things," he murmured, conjuring the blue doll to disappear between his palms and showing a couple other tricks to the young one.

**… …**

When they went back at the downstairs Loki didn't find Emma anywhere. He had left her in the lobby where she wasn't anymore. He followed the boy into the dinning hall where the old couple was sitting at a table already. The half of the tables in the room was taken, wealthy looking people sitting and fine dinning there. The dinning hall was beautiful with great paintings on the walls, sparkling chandeliers and wide windows looking to the alighted garden.

Loki was getting a bit worried as he escorted Damien to his grandparents. "Have you seen Emma?" he asked from the Grey couple. "My wife?"

"Oh, yes. She said she needed to visit the ladies room. That was a while ago," the old lady said, offering a seat to him. "Please, have a seat, Mr. Odinson."

"Yes, you can sit with me!" Damien yelped.

"I'm sure she would come soon. She said you two would join us on dinner."

"Did she now?" Loki glanced around him in the fancy dinning hall, heaving an annoyed sigh. He didn't want to be around these people, pretending to be one of them. It occurred to him that he had been putting up with them only for Emma's sake. He would have rather ruled them, all, showing them their true place in this new world he was about to build.

"Please, if you would excuse me," the god of mischief said as he left looking for Emma.

He had placed his trust in her, but feared she have used her opportunity to ran, as she had ran away from her tormentors years ago. The treason of the Warrior Three and lady Sif still burning him, he was presuming his newfound companion had also turned her back at him, no matter how ardent the beginning of their little liaison had been. He wondered had it all become too much for her to bear; the threat of the S.H.I.E.L.D., Ironman and Thor that she had seen it wiser to leave him. _Or had she simply grown tired to him and his only slightly mischievous tricks?_

Loki strode back to the lobby, casting a stern glance around him, walking back and forth a few rounds, falling into a foul mood. After playing out too many tricks of his own, and after been lied his whole life by his family, he had developed some major trust issues in a very short time. And without Emma, he would have no reason to hold back what he was, letting the humanity to meet their new unmerciful leader. A rueful smile swept over his lips. This certainly wasn't the first time he had been abandoned and rejected by someone he'd believe he could have trusted.

When he heard the familiar, uncertain, clicking steps of high heel shoes carrying through the empty hallway behind him, Loki turned around to face her. His heart skipped a beat as he beheld Emma, his stern expression turning slowly to a tiny, fondly smile. She hadn't gone anywhere, and she looked more beautiful than ever. He just stayed where he stood and watched her without a word, an odd, warm sensation filling his heart.

"Loki?" Emma stopped a few feet away from him, looking at him questioningly and a bit alarmed. Actually, fearing that something bad had happened with the boy. That much significant his troubled expression had been. "Loki, what's wrong? Is Damien alright?" she asked in a concerned voice.

The god of mischief stood there in his perfectly fitting black suit, tall and handsome as hell, swallowing his short-live and ill-founded doubts. He took a breath at first, not to sound too emotional. "He is fine. I was looking for you. You got me thinking that you ran away, Emma," Loki admitted his doubts quietly, stepping closer to her, his dark thoughts leaving him as he watched at her.

Emma met him on the half way, a glint of guilt visiting her eyes. "To be honest, I almost did."

He squinted lightly, but appreciated her honesty. "What stopped you?"

_Life was too short so why not make the most of it_, she reasoned. "Call me a fool, but I decided to trust you, Loki. Even after that sheep trick. We are in this together. Plus, I didn't have any money for a cab." _Care to borrow some?_ she thought smiling, but didn't dare to continue the joke. He had looked so lost and troubled enough, searching for her, that it stung her heart.

He was the one feeling himself as a fool at that moment. They surely were in this together. "Hm, you would have not gotten very far in those shoes," Loki smiled back at her and offered his arm to her like in some elegant ball, behaving like a perfect gentleman. "Shall we? Apparently they are expecting us for dinner," he said, assuming that she should eat since she hadn't had a decent meal in a few days. And he didn't mind of putting something delectable into his mouth too if the mortals were able to prepare some.

"Sounds great. I'm starving." Emma hooked her arm with his like a princess and lifted her eyes at him. "Thank you," she said in a silent voice, touching his hand with the other hand.

Loki noticed that she still wore the ring in her finger he had conjured for her and it gave him a strange satisfaction since it apparently was a sign of a marriage to the mortals. "For what?"

"For this," she said shrugging, meaning her outfit. "And, thank you for being who you are."

Loki looked puzzled, but her words were like balm he had been craving for. "I do not understand."

"What I'm trying to say is that," Emma looked nervous, hoping she wouldn't have to regret this, "I kind of like you, a lot."

He couldn't tell how good it felt to hear someone saying that to him and really meaning it. He swallowed his puzzlement and gave her a smile. "I," he begun sounding sincere at first, "I knew you would come to your senses, my dear."

Emma tried not to roll her eyes. "Don't get too cocky now, big guy!"

"Never, my manners are always courtly." With a grin he made a subtle move with his other hand, giving into a small concession, since she had remained by his side.

And Emma noticed that her black skirt grew in length, the hem of it reaching under her knees, securing her modesty. "Oh, nice. Thanks."

"Anything for my queen," the god of mischief declared softly.

Emma gave him a curious smile. "In that case, how about a bit lower heels?"

"That is non-negotiable."

**… …**

They joined the Grey couple and Damien on a late dinner, ate a plentiful meal and enjoyed themselves in that glorious place. They had have a nice time at the dinner, and Loki had behaved humanly like a normal person, making Emma feeling herself like a royal, talking with Mr. Grey about horses that they seemed to share a passion about, joking with Damien and flattering the old lady Grey. Emma hadn't had no idea that he could ride a horse, or that he was such a silver tongue. Loki could have made a fortune by selling used cars, or he could have probably managed to sell some ice to the Frost Giants.

He had been pleasant, intelligence and charming, like he would have belonged into that elegant company and that was the way Emma would have wanted him to remain. Maybe he truly was a royal as he had told her. She felt being the only outsider there. Acting as a married couple with him had been fun and weird but Emma had enjoyed it more than she would have wanted to admit. Suddenly it had felt like she had known him for years, no matter how crazy the feeling was.

And Loki was fully enjoying himself, being in the center of attention. To his surprise the dinner had been very good, and he had only wondered how could have Emma eaten so much for someone being so small as though she would had have an appetite of Volstagg. He had liked their little role-play. She had been so endearing the whole time and he had been calling her with a whole variety of sweet names only wanting to see those lovely blue eyes giving him bewildered smiles.

"Mr. Odinson, could you possibly consider to show us some of your performance?" the old lady Grey asked a bit shyly at the time of the desert.

Emma lifted her gaze from her mouth-watering dessert, very rich chocolate mousse, regretted she had told them that he was a magician. "Um, she is talking about your magical illusions, my dear."

Loki furrowed his forehead, emptying his glass of scotch with a one big gulp. "You want me to show you my tricks?" he asked a bit surprised.

"If it is not too much to ask."

Damien got excited. "Oh, do the snake trick. That was brilliant!"

"No snakes!" Emma gasped, knowing that this was a bad idea.

She scooped another spoonful of the sweet, fluffy mousse and shoved it in Loki's face. "Here, try this, sweetheart! It is very delicious," she said, trying to change the subject, playing along with him in the pet name contest. Loki couldn't help but to taste the dessert as she was nearly thrusting the spoon down into his throat. "He's performances needs a lot of preparations, and..." Emma explained, shutting his mouth with the dessert which didn't work.

"Um…" Loki murmured swallowing his mouth empty, gently disarming her from her spoon. "It is alright, my dearest darling," he said, wiping his mouth to a napkin. He looked like he was ready for some real challenge, getting up from his seat and winking an eye at Emma. Perhaps it truly was time for him to make a name for himself, letting this handful of people to know who he was. Emma shook her head at him, not to do anything unthinkable.

"How very exciting?" the old lady sighed glancing at Emma, who tried to force her face into a smile.

Poised as a true king (making even Odin next to him looking like a humble man) Loki walked in front of the tables, starting his show on his way, changing his appearance back to his Asgardian style in a flow of golden magic, chancing back to his own royal clothing with his long green cape and his horned helmet and some extra golden details. The dinning hall fell in silence as the people stared at him, a puzzled expectancy filling the air.

Emma wanted to cover her eyes behind her palms, but was afraid not to. _Oh shit! Just when everything was going on so perfectly. Not this again!_

Loki gazed at the small room of people, pleased of gotten their undivided attention.

"I am Loki of Asgard. I would ask you to kneel before me, but since you already sitting, some might consider it... rude," he spoke in an aloud voice that everyone heard clearly. Four identical illusions of him appeared around the hall as if guarding the exits, glaring around the people who gave a bewildered utterance.

He gave them a sated smile, lifting his arms. "Do not be afraid, I bring to you glad tidings," he continued and conjured a huge illusion all around them, turning the dinning hall into a unbelievable scenery from a vision of outer space, as if they have been sitting at a side of a foreign galaxy, the wide black, starry space around them and a sparkling bridge below them. "When your world is slipping into a chaos, humanity falling in a desperate need of a leader, you will become to know me as your ruler…"

The people beheld the breathtaking vision utterly taken aback, not believing their eyes, his words greatly confusing them. It was amazingly beautiful and odd at the same time, something that none of them had ever seen. The illusions was alive, changing as if they would have been diving into the galaxy with a speed of light, the stars and colorful star dust passing by in front of their eyes. It all finally was fading away as if they would have returned back on Earth through the space.

Mouth opened Emma stared at the self-claimed new ruler of Earth, face palming herself. "What are you doing?" she mouthed at him, but Loki only gave her a confident smile.

As Loki kept talking to the people, his great speech of humanity crying out for a savior, she grabbed a bottle of mister Grey's scotch, pouring herself a large glass of it, shaking her head in disbelief. _This was insane! Had she encouraged him to do that? _She should have run and fast without looking back while she had the chance. She liked him but not that crazy side of him. _That was it!_ She couldn't watch this sober, Loki doing something terrible again. She dipped her finger in the drink and tasted it, only to found out that she hated scotch. She kicked off her shoes under the table. It had been hard enough to walking with them sober, not mention if she would get drunk.

Mr. Grey watched at Emma perplexed like that would have been a waste of good scotch. "My dear girl that is not the way you enjoy your scotch!"

"It's okay. I'm not going to enjoy it."

Loki frowned as he noticed Emma picking up her glass full of alcohol. He shook his head in disapproval at her. _She couldn't do that!_ _She would become utterly impossible if she would drink that_, he thought abashed. Or then she would pass out under the table at once. Either way embarrassing them both.

"I have come from too far to stop now," he stated, his words meant for her even it seemed he was talking to the people.

Emma noticed her glass draining empty as Loki conjured the alcohol away from it, and created a huge circle of absinth green fire with it and his magic on the back wall of the dinning hall as if he would have opened a flaming portal. The audience gasped once again in bewilderment, some of them already a bit worried.

Emma got up from her seat, her daring gaze at him, the drop of scotch beginning to take effect on her as an encouragement she had been hoping for. She was not going to let him do something unthinkable, like opening a portal straight to hell, what it ominously looked like he was doing.

"Ladies and gentleman! Please put your hands together for the greatest magician on the face of Earth! Loki of Asgard! The true king... of sorcery," she spoke in an aloud voice sounding like a real show-woman. "Loki Odinson, your god of illusions, ladies and gentleman! To see more of his magnificent performance, please visit our website and get your tickets to the upcoming shows. The great European tour will start in next month."

Staring at her grimly Loki tilted his head. That actually looked a bit funny with his horned helmet on. She had ruined his big debut, addressing him as a mere magician. _What the hell was she doing? _He didn't like this. He didn't like the stunt she had pulled. She had crossed the line. _How dared she do that?_ He was going to have to give the mortals a true example of his powers now.

The people, dumbfound, rose up on their feet, applauding at him, showing him their great enthusiasm after his strange, unique and compelling show like it had been the most marvelous spectacle they had ever seen, wanting to see more. Taken aback by the surprise of the people's reactions, Loki gazed around him. Against all odds he had gain the favor of his audience however small, but still. Someone started it but soon everyone was cheering his name, shouts of "Loki!" filling the dinning hall.

Loki let out a small snort by bewilderment. It sounded like these people actually liked him. Not what he had been expecting to achieve, but it wasn't bad. He lifted his hand up, enjoying the admirations given to him and slowly conjured the remainings of his illusions away, his duplicates and the burning circle from the wall, changing back into the black suit he wore before his show, saying a few thanks. Then he made his way back at the table of the Greys, some people bowing at him (in a playful way) like he would have been a king.

"That was awesome! But where were the snakes!" Damien sighed, putting down his mobile phone he had used to take a video, but Loki showed him a hush-hush move to be quiet about the snakes.

"Jolly good show, Mr. Odinson! Eccentric really, but marvelous! Can't wait to see more," Mr. Grey said finally excited of what he had seen, giving the god of mischief a refilled glass of scotch as a token of great approval.

"That was indeed a quite performance," the lady Grey admitted, easing her fluttering heart with a sip of sherry. She was a fan of more traditional magic with card trick and such. What he had done had been a bit too much for her taste. "Maybe not suitable for small children."

"Thank you. I hope you enjoyed," Loki said in a dark tone and took the glass and gulped it empty to settle his anger. His gaze focused at Emma who still stood with him as everyone else sat down, the applauses fading around them.

She bit her lips nervously as Loki stepped in front of her, his intimidating pose telling her that she had done something she shouldn't have. _Man, that was the dark side of him she would have not cared to meet again._ She had forgotten his bad temper so completely. "Well done, darling," she said cautiously with an attempt of a smile.

His gaze swept her from head to toes and returned to her eyes. "I believe it is our time to retire, _my dear_," Loki said and grabbed from her arm.

"I haven't even finished my dessert yet."

"Come along now, Emma," he growled in a frighteningly calm, low voice and pulled her with him.

"But the night is still young. Isn't it?" Emma managed to snatch her shoes under the table and bid goodnights to their hosts before he subtly dragged her out from the dinning hall.

Loki walked her on a quieter corridor leading to the staircase before he said anything else, pushing her softly up against the wall, stepping so close that he almost stepped on her toes, casting a mean glare down at her. "What were you trying to do there?" he asked, his deep, dark voice expressing his chagrin because of her little interference.

Emma was unsure how mad he was to her. "I'm sorry but I wasn't on a mood for bloodshed this time."

They were both whispering but it ominously felt like they were cruising towards a small domestic dispute.

"You think I would have started killing people for fun? In front of that child? What kind of monster do you think I am?"

"Then what were _you_ trying to do?"

With parted lips, seemingly severely upset, Loki gave her an annoyed smile as though asking _hadn't she really figured it out yet_. "I meant to rule this world, not entertain it!" he huffed, scolding her, but keeping his voice surprisingly quiet.

"Welcome to Earth! It's almost the same thing now days. We are not living in the Dark Ages anymore," she snapped back at him. "Didn't you see how they worshiped you there? Believe me, you'd do a lot better showing them a few neat tricks than trying to subject them to you rule like some mad person!"

_Oh, here we go again!_ Loki rolled his eyes. "This is not madness, woman! I am entitled to a throne, if not in Asgard then here," Loki said and leaned his left forearm against the wall, sideways over her head, and put his other hand on her shoulder, trapping her there where she stood. "You do not want to challenge me again!" he said in a bit heated voice that sounded like a challenge in itself.

"You're right, I don't. So don't give me a reason for it!"

He pouted his lower lip like an annoyed kid, leaning closer to her. "Everything was going on so perfectly. You spoiled my play!"

"I'm sorry. Look, we might have a minor difference of opinion about this matter. It was a very good show, though," Emma said apologetically, but then a small defiance lifted its head. "But you pull one more crazy-ass stunt like that and I'm going to walk away!"

Loki frowned. "Crazy-ass?"

"It's a figure of speech. But I mean it! If you'll continue this _brainless_ obsession of yours of taking over the damn world then you're not leaving me with any other choice but to leave you," she challenged in a hushed voice.

He stared down at her a moment without blinking as though she had said something very rude to him, which she pretty much did. And he thought that they already had this conversation just a while ago before the dinner. "You cannot leave me, Emma!" he said like he would have stated a simple fact.

"Well, you just watch me if you'll keep goofing around!"

"I do not even know what is that damn word suppose to mean. Speak in the way I can understand you!" Loki snorted, but relenting a bit. His left hand dropped from the wall onto her other shoulder and his palm moved on the back of her neck. "You said it yourself that we must stand together. Do not think for a moment that I would let you go now. You belong to me," he whispered in an unsettled tone.

"W-what? No… It doesn't work like that. I chose to stay with you, because (some crazy reason) I like you. There's a big difference in that. You don't own me, Loki!" Emma stated firmly.

He leaned closer. "No?"

"No!"

_Oh yes he did, she just didn't know it yet_, Loki thought, wanting to demonstrate just as much he owned her. His hand squeezed gently her shoulder, other hand's thumb stroking her jaw line. She looked so breathtakingly beautiful in that small dress and the outlooks he had conjured for her that he would have not wanted to spent their time in a petty quarrel. And yet her defiance was only arousing him, tempting him to lure that darker side of her to coming out to play.

"An European tour you said?" he asked, sounding still upset but as if taking it under consideration.

"Why the hell not? It could set us up nicely and you could make a name for yourself." Emma swallowed, looking up into his emerald eyes like she would have given up, leaning the back of her head against the wall, his hands keeping her there. He looked so damn hot in that black suit and she really had no wish to argue. They had had so much fun earlier that it would have been a shame to spoil it all. "Ohh, you look so damn hot when you're angry. Wait! Did I say that aloud? I must be a bit tipsy."

He narrowed his eyes, exhaling slowly, a smile only waiting to come out. "Do not waste your breath by trying to placate me with your weak excuse of a compliment." There was a keen gleam in his eyes even he still appeared to be grumpy. "It is your fortune I am being in a benevolent mood and shall allow you a chance to make amends."

Emma couldn't tell the difference was he angry or joking. She felt her heart pounding fast, trying to figure him out. "Are you being serious?"

He clenched his jaw but his eyes smiled. "Oh yes. And you can start by giving me a kiss."

Not questioning that, Emma dropped off her shoes she was carrying, taking a hold of his long, silky scarf and pulling him lower. "We need to seriously work on our communication," she said as she rose on her tiptoes to meet with his lips. And he hunched down to claim that kiss for a starters of a reconciliation, his hands wrapping around her waist.

"Why you keep scaring me like that, you big meanie?" she asked whispering while their lips were touching, making her heart galloping wild.

A smile conquered his face. "Because I have seen how much fear and danger excites you, my Valkyrie," he answered with a voice she couldn't resist, pressing his mouth on hers and leaning his body against her. The taste of scotch in his mouth mixing up with the chocolate of hers was a delicate combination they both enjoyed, only rousing hunger for some more.

"You do know you actually have a room here, don't you?" Damien's witty remark broke the tension between them as they had just gotten to the kissing part.

The boy stood in the corridor, looking at them embarrassed unsure which way to turn his eyes. And they both stared at the young one, taking a breath, confused and as if gotten caught of doing something forbidden.

Loki frowned at the tiny interferer, uncomfortable that the boy had seen them kissing, taking a step back from Emma, but kept leaning to his hand on the wall next to her. "What do you want, little varmint?"

"Loki, play nice!" Emma whispered and he glanced at her with a small scowl.

"I forgot to ask you… Can I have your signature, Loki? If you're going to be famous, I would like to have your name in my book," the boy said and offered him a pencil and a small book where he had collected names of some local notables.

"If I shall do this, will you leave us alone?" Loki asked in an undertone, taking the book and the pen.

"Alright!"

"Who is David Beckham?" the god of mischief asked flipping through the pages.

"You've got Beckham's name in there? Are you kidding me?" Emma yelped taking a peek.

"I also have a signature of Prince Harry," Damien told proudly.

"Loki, you have to put your name in there. Damien needs a name of the king of Asgard too," Emma told him excited.

Loki gave his signature to the boy, puzzled about it, and handed the book back to him. In Damien's request Emma also took a picture of Loki and Damien with the boy's cell phone for him.

Damien looked more than happy. "Thanks! Hey, I can show you to your room, if you like!"

Loki looked down at the boy in a fatherly disapproval manner. "No, thank you! What did I just say to you?"

"You're very kind, young sir, but maybe it is time for you too to go to bed," Emma suggested to the young one, finding Loki's behavior with the kid actually kind of sweet.

"Alright. I'll see you at the breakfast then. Good night!"

As the boy disappeared running from their sight, Loki turned back at Emma with a curious expression, wrapping his arm around her shoulders. "We are not done yet, you and I. Now, tell me, my precious darling, where are our chambers? Like you said, it is our honeymoon after all, isn't it? We must keep up the appearances."

_Oh shit!_


	13. 13 Trying to get lucky… or Loki

"Sir, we've got a positive identification of Loki from the surveillance cameras on Stafford town in Staffordshire County," a young male agent informed to director Fury. "A 78 percent match, sir. No, 95 percent."

Nick Fury stepped behind the agent, taking a look at the computer screen that showed a still image from a security surveillance camera where Loki was leisuring around in front of some fancy place. "Caught you!" Fury grunted, satisfied, and contacted agent Coulson who was out there in the field.

The S.H.I.E.L.D.'s flying air base, the Helicarrier, flew somewhere high above the Atlantic Ocean, ready to send more backup for the Coulson's team if needed. Agent Phil Coulson answered quickly and Fury told him about Loki's current location, sent him the exact coordinates with a wishes _to bring that goddamn deity down_.

Inside the Quinjet agent Coulson ended the call and cast his gaze at Natasha Romanoff who was piloting their aircraft. "Agent Romanoff, could you please take us to the town of Stafford. Loki was spotted there just a minute ago having a ball."

"Roger that!" Natasha Romanoff said and a wicked smile curved her lips. No-one who hurts her friends would get away with it without being punished. She owed that to Clint Barton.

Tony Stark and Thor had been sitting opposite Coulson in the cabin, Tony speed fixing his Ironman suit that was scattered in parts all over the floor of the Quinjet. Tony jumped on his feet, getting suiting up again. "Great! My suit might just last that long. Let's go get that mean bastard!" he declared, eager to end this time wasting searching trip.

"Do not mock my brother!" Thor said in a rough tone. No matter what Loki had done Thor didn't want to hear mortals talking about him in so disgraceful manner.

"Well sorry! Let me reframe that; let's go apprehend that ill-mannered godling. Now, how's that?"

Thor had gotten a chance to meet with the man inside the strange metal suit and he found Tony Stark an arrogant and slightly irritating little man who, in his opinion, took things too lightly. The god of thunder looked a bit surprised that the mortals had actually found his brother. "How did your people find him?" Thor asked from Coulson.

"He's not really keeping a low profile."

"That is very unlike him," Thor murmured.

"Well, maybe he's not that _low-key_ you have thought him to be!" Tony Stark grinned and got only Thor's annoyed frown. "What? You didn't get the joke? Low-key sounds like… Oh, forget it!"

**… …**

The third floor's room number 309 located on the end of a long corridor and was apparently a honeymoon suite, decorated beautifully with white antique furnitures, fresh flowers, long white curtains, romantic paintings and a large four-poster bed. From the window opened a picturesque view to the garden. After entering into their room, Emma stood on her place taken aback by the sight of it. It was amazingly beautiful. It was way much more than she could have ever asked for from a hotel room, even from a honeymoon suite. It could have suited for royals. _She so not belonged there. It wasn't Caribbean but otherwise it was simply perfect. _

When she heard Loki closing the door behind her and locking it, she suddenly fell in a bit of a panic, realizing the mess she had gotten herself into. It just then occurred to her that they were about to share a room and apparently a bed together. Yes, they had already shared days and nights together by the pure necessity to survive. They'd shared passionate kisses in which she had been driven by an adrenaline kick. And a few times they have been all over each other, the whole thing feeling like a lengthened foreplay, but now she was terrified, thinking she should have drank more of that scotch to get herself senseless. She knew so little of him, except that he was a dangerous but beautiful alien who had turned her whole world upside-down. And she had let him do that.

"At last. No one will bother us now," Loki spoke softly in a dark tone, loosening his black tie and pulling it off. He was unaccustomed with these mortal's clothes and he would have preferred to change back into his own clothing.

Emma turned to face him. _Oh great, he was already undressing!_ She would have wanted to took a few steps backward but felt frozen. "That's... great," she whispered nervously and tried to smile. "Are you sure Damien wasn't following us? He's a sweet kid, a bit weird and scary, but nice. A kind of like you… um… in a good way."

Even without her silly and nervous chattering Loki could sense her being anxious. So was he, but he couldn't tell why. This was what he had been longing for; finally some peace and quiet and just the two of them. "Are you nervous, my Valkyrie?"

"No," Emma said trying to sound brave but failed. "Yeah, a little bit." She swallowed. Her nervousness was completely his doings but she didn't want to admit it. "I was just pondering should we expect someone else to crash through a window? I mean, I've already met your mother and brother. Do you happen to have an uncle or a little cousin who holds a grudge against you? And… then there's the S.H.I.E.L.D.?"

"I assure you we do not have to worry about any of them tonight," Loki said and removed his black jacket and draped it over the back of a chair with his tie.

Even though black was certainly the color he was born to wear, his white long-sleeve shirt along with the green vest made him looking more approachable. Emma just stared at him a while admiring. Then she tried to think of something reasonable to say, glancing around, the massive four-poster bed capturing her attention. "Okay, no worries… So, which side of the bed would you prefer?"

Loki grinned, moving closer to her. "You pick a side. I will be on top of you."

_So, they knew that joke in Asgard too!_ Emma gasped but let out a nervous laugh and Loki chuckled a bit with her. He knew she didn't always agree with him and she kept challenging him as though she thought they were equal, but he liked that. And as he saw it, she had earned her right to disagree with him on their troublesome journey. She was different than anyone he'd ever met and those two sides she possessed fascinated him. He would have so wanted to set that lovely beast of hers loose and see what she truly was capable of.

Slowly his grin faded away and the gaze in his emerald eyes was turning into an uncertain, a sort of waiting look. "No more tricks, I promise. This is just us… you and I. Will you let me touch you, Emma?" he asked in a smooth voice, offering his left hand to her like asking her for a slow dance. "May I hold you close tonight?"

For someone who had been playing mean tricks on her, grabbing her roughly and dangling her over an icy abyss, he made his offering sounding irresistible. She couldn't tell how much it meant to her that he had asked her permission to touch her. His eyes were an invitation and she took a step closer to him. Hesitating only a little, she placed her hand on his, whispering a cautious "yes".

With one more step Loki moved near her. His hand was gentle and warm as he lifted her small hand with his, their fingers entwining and interlocking like sealing a promise. "You are so beautiful," he murmured, "and yet so fierce." His free hand touched her golden hair, caressing her cheek and moving on the back of her head as he lowered his face to hers. She was much shorter than him but he didn't let it bother. Their foreheads touched, Loki closing his eyes for that small moment, waiting for her to make her move. He could sense she was shivering and he found it winsome and cute.

Emma had loved to kiss him. She had loved the way he had felt. She had paid attention to his scent a few times before, and he smelled heavenly good, divine. His scent was peculiar and enticing, cotton candy mixed with the heaven and the ocean, sweet and strong and masculine, something you couldn't buy in a bottle or couldn't really define. And his forehead against hers, he was like a star pulling her off from her orbit. No, he was pulling her towards him with a force of a black hole and she was unable to resist his attraction. She lifted her chin, letting her mouth to find his, and she closed her eyes. Her arms found their own way up on his shoulders. She needed something to hold on because it felt like her knees were giving in at any moment as she was giving into a long kiss that started gently and kept building up lust and desire like a rolling snowball. He had brought out the side of her that she had been holding back. He had tamed her fear of being touched, and she really liked his gentle touch. It made her melt when he put his hands around her waist and pulled her near.

Kissing and caressing each other as if they would have been dancing, they made their way slowly closer to the bed, Loki pulling off her jacket, Emma letting him do the leading. His hands traveled onto her hips, slid down on her thighs to lift her skirt up and picked her up in his arms, letting her legs wrapping around his waist. He loved the way she responded to him. He loved the way her body felt against his, and the hard swelling down in his pants couldn't agree more. He couldn't believe he was doing this. It was just a couple of days ago he had been ready to given up living, and now he couldn't get enough of feeling alive with her. In her embrace he felt like he would have been born again, all his troubles leaving him.

Emma's back bumped against the column of the bed and she pulled off from his lips to take breath. "Loki?" she panted, her voice trembling as he kept kissing her.

"What?" he whispered into her mouth, unbuttoning his shirt with one hand, holding her with the other against the massive bed column. He was burning for her. And knowing that she wanted to be his, made him desiring her even more. He was drowning into the feeling, his body aching for her.

Loki kissing her neck made her closing her eyes, feeling overwhelmed with the sensation and his sweet seduction, but she forced herself thinking clearly for one more second. "I tried to be a reasonable adult, so I sneaked into the men's room, while you were with Damien, and broke in to a condom vending machine," she said with a whisper, pulling out three condoms that she had been carrying in her bras. _Like that was suppose to sound of a behavior of a reasonable adult?_ At least she had thought of being prepared for everything. "You do know what a condom is, don't you?"

Loki lifted his mouth from her neck and gazed at her looking utterly confused like a lost puppy. "Of course," he whispered panting lightly.

"That's great."

"But why would you mention something like that now? You are not making any sense."

"Because… I want you to wear it."

Loki shook his head bewildered. "What?"

"If you're refusing to use it, then we're not going to do this."

Loki let out a sigh mouth open, his forehead furrowed, his eyes moving in an uncertainty as if trying to imagine that. "Hell yes, I am refusing!"

"W-why?"

"How am I even supposed to do that?"

Emma stared at him as much puzzled as he was. _Were they even talking about the same matter?_ "You do have a place for it, don't you?" she asked, her gaze dropping down below his waistline. "Don't tell me that you're like a Ken doll from down there."

"Now you are being a bit pervert," Loki gasped. "How am I supposed to _wear_ a 30 tons heavy boulder while I am bedding you?"

"Huh?"

"The ancient people of Vanaheim used a boulder called Condom to sacrifice dogs on it. I can not see how that would fit here..."

"Oh?" Emma gasped, at first confused but then barely keeping up her poker face. She dropped off from his arms and squeezed herself out between him and the column picking up his hand and placing the condoms on his palm. "These are condoms! I'm going to give you a moment to figure out what to do with them. I need to take a quick shower!" she said and left with hurry to the bathroom.

"W-why?" Loki followed her with his gaze taken aback like he would have been rudely dumped, then glancing down at his palm at the three very small packages.

Just as the door slammed close behind her, he heard the shower turned on and Emma's hysterical giggling that seemed to continue for a while, the sound of pouring water failing to conceal it. He loved that laughter and he wished she wouldn't have gone anywhere. He couldn't help but to chuckle for their mutual misunderstanding and the delightful sound of her laughter. It sounded like she was truly having fun in there.

He conjured his outfits back to his own Asgardian clothing and the jacket he had thrown off turned into his green cloak on the back of the chair. He peeled himself from his long, sleeveless leather jacket and a green tunic. He couldn't wait to feel her body against his. He liked to play with a thought that she was pristine even he had his doubt about that, since she used so coarse language for a woman and her fear of a touch spoke on its own language. Not mentioned the way she kissed him with such a passion. There were no traces of innocent left in those burning kissed. And still he wanted to see her as an unspoiled maiden, only to be his, and he wasn't going to let her slip from his grasp again before he had done things to her no-one had ever done before. Giving that another thought with a wicked smile, he conjured his long scarf back to his hands and tossed it on the bed for just in case he would have to tie her up. He felt his Jotun blood boiling with anticipation. He shouldn't have let her escape at all.

As a prince of Asgard there had been strict rules to binding him and his behavior but as a trickster he had found a way to circle those and only on a couple of occasions seek out his pleasure from the beds of the Asgardian ladies by taking the form of their lovers. In those times he had been much younger and foolish and it had been selfish, meaningless, no emotions attached act of relieving his burning fleshly cravings. But this was different. Never had he taken anyone just being himself, and now it terrified him, not having the shelter given by a false identity. He had grown fond of Emma in a short time, and it was making it more difficult. On the outside he might have given an impression of being fully certain about himself, intimidatingly calm even, but inside he was wary and shy in matters of showing affection such as this. Intimacy had always been his problem. He had never let anyone this close before and it was arousing and terrifying at the same time.

He sat on the side of the bed, kicked off his boots and took one of the small wrappers she had given to him, studying it a moment and then ripping the wrapper open. _What the hell was he supposed to do with that?_ he pondered, bemused, staring at the thin rubber roll between his fingers. "Ohh..." he let out a sigh, reaching to a sudden conclusion. _She couldn't seriously expect him to wear a ridiculous thing like that around his..._

He returned from his thoughts as he heard an angry knocking from the door. It was rather late and they weren't expecting anyone as far as he knew. _The S.H.I.E.L.D. already?_ he pondered, worried, even he doubted they would come knocking. With hasty steps he moved on the side of the doorway, conjuring an illusion of himself standing in front of the door, pulling out his daggers with magic and then opening the door, waiting that someone to step in to his trap, lifting his daggers up.

"I googled the word _varmint_! That wasn't very nice thing to say!" Damien's upset voice said as the boy talked to his illusion.

Loki narrowed his eyes in annoyance, recognizing the voice, taking a cautious peek from behind the wall at the boy who was standing in the corridor, his arms crossed over his tiny chest. "What are you doing here?" Loki asked whispering, conjuring his daggers and his decoy illusion away.

Damien looked surprised staring at him and the other Loki who just vanished before his eyes. "Um… Is this a bad time?" the boy asked, his voice sounding less upset and more confused now.

Only a glint of a smile visited on Loki's lips. "Yes, this is a very, very bad time," he reassured, glancing over his shoulder at the bathroom's direction, standing on the other side of the doorway, topless and without his shoes. "Why are you not in bed? Did we not agree a moment ago that you will leave me in peace?"

"Well yes. But I thought it would be fair to ask you; can I put the video of your magic tricks into my Youtube-channel?"

Loki had no idea what the boy had asked him. "Well, I guess you do what you must," he murmured, shooting a glare down at him, "if you will just go, now!" he whispered in a dark tone.

Damien let out a small chuckle at his attempt of a threat. "Oh, thanks. You are funny! I bet the video will get a million views. Good night, Loki!" the boy said excited and was already leaving but turned back. "Did Emma like the smurf?"

"I have not given it to her yet. Good night, minion."

"She seems nice… even she has a drinking problem."

Loki frowned, pondering bewildered where the boy had gotten a ludicrous idea like that in his mind. "What? She does not have a drinking problem!"

"Oh? Well, that's great! Nana said that she might because you seemed so upset about her after your show."

Loki gritted his teeth lightly. _So much for trying to be subtle!_ "Well, she does not. And I am not upset about her. I like her."

"Me too!" Damien looked up at Loki like trying to think of something to continue their talk and Loki tried to subtly tell to the young one to leave. "Oh... Would you like to see my grandpa's horses tomorrow?"

The god of mischief rolled his eyes, running his hand over his head. The boy must have been truly lonely to come for him in the late evening to have a chat. "Maybe. Tomorrow. But do not come to bother me again tonight, alright?" he said closing the door rudely in front of Damien.

He waited a moment, leaning his bare back and head against the door. "I know you are there, Damien, I can hear you breathing!" he said through to door to the boy. He waited another moment, heaving a sigh and closing his eyes. He had a flashback from those times him being eight years old and sneaking to talk with Odin at the night after Thor had fallen asleep just to get a moment to have his father's full attention.

"I still know you are there even when you are holding your breath. Fine! I shall see you, in the first light. You have my word," Loki promised in a softer voice.

"Alright, I'll see you in the morning. Good night!"

**... ...**

The Quinjet circled above the town of Stafford, guarding its nightlife, and quickly by the given coordinates found what they were looking for.

"There's our boy!" Natasha informed to Coulson as she was taking the aircraft lower.

Coulson started down at the alighted streets where three people were walking towards a small park next to a church. "We have a visual contact with the target. All units, he is moving along Earl Street to north. Proceed with caution! There are civilians involved!" agent Coulson talked to his radiophone.

"Alright! Let's go nail that guy! I'm missing my hot dates because of him," Tony Stark's voice answered as he was already out flying in his armor.

Thor grabbed his hammer and glanced at the agents, stepping closer to the closed rear hatch. "Open this! I am going after him," the god of thunder said, preparing to face his brother again.

"Let me take this lower first," Natasha suggested.

"There is no need. Just open the hatch, please."

The area was secured, the Quinjet hovering above a tiny green garden and Thor approaching the people from behind striding along the street.

A tall man, looking exactly like Loki, walked self-satisfied with two young ladies, one in both arms talking and laughing with them. They all stopped in awe when they noticed the aircraft and then the Ironman landing in front of them.

"Loki, drop your weapons and stand down!" agent Romanoff's voice ordered from the Quinjet's loudspeakers.

"Respect, man!" the Loki yelped with an astonished voice to the Ironman, holding on his girls under his arms.

"You remember me, Joker?" Tony Stark asked in an annoyed tone, getting his weapons activated and aiming at the puzzled man. "Evening ladies. If you'll excuse us, we have some settling up to do with the big guy here!"

The ladies saw it wiser to move away in a fright, running along the street where a couple of agents were waiting.

"Oh, come on, loves! Don't go now!" the man shouted after them in a pitying tone in a British accent, seemingly very drunk, staggering a bit.

Thor slowed down his hasty steps as he approached the man, passing by a bright yellow car. He could tell already from a distant that something fishy was going on with the man who looked like his brother but sounded nothing like him, and the way the man carried himself hadn't anything Loki-alike in it.

"This is not my brother!" Thor stated to Tony Stark as he reached by the man's side, giving him a short valuating look.

"Wow, you're a huge block!" the man exclaimed noticing Thor.

"What do you mean?" Tony asked from Thor, they both gathering around the man.

Thor placed his hand on the man's shoulder as he was to explain that Loki had a straighter posture but when he did that the illusion faded away and exposed the youngster's true appearance changing him back a few inches shorter, short-haired and skinnier young man. (You remember the guy who was shouting rude suggestions to Emma? This is that guy.)

"Hey, no touching, mate! Oh no! Ohhh… Why did you do that for?" the youngster whined, disappointed, touching his hair and face that was his own again. "I was about to get laid with two birds! Why did you have to come to spoil it from me?"

Tony opened his vizier, staring at the youngster severely pissed off. "Damned! I can't believe it! Loki fooled us again!"

"Why were you looking like Loki?" Thor asked from the youngster.

"Yeah… I was going to get lucky with those birds…"

Thor took a grip from the young man's jacket's collar, demanding answers. "Why were you looking like that? Where did you meet that man who changed your looks? Tell me!"

"I've not met anyone… I swear… I got here with my friends a couple of hours ago and when I got out from my mate's car I turned looking like that. At first I was a freaking scared… I was going to shit myself. I swear I was going to jump down from a bridge… but then when the ladies were starting to clinging on me like I'd have been the fucking Hugh Hefner I thought what the hell. It was like a god's gift, you know, like in that Jim Carrey movie the Bruce Almighty, when the block gets the god's powers. I was a god, mate!"

"I assure you, you were not a god!" Thor grunted and turned away, lifting his gaze up at the night sky. "Where are you, Loki?" he murmured.

**… …**

Emma stood under the shower, finally alone, finally getting a decent wash with hot water. It had been a while she had have a chance to use as much of hot water as she would have wanted. There hadn't been that luxury in the Greenland's facilities where the shower could took only two minutes max. She thought about Loki who was waiting just behind the door. _He was going to bed her. What the hell? Who ever used that kind of expression now days? It sounded creepy, like he would have been planning to force himself on her. _

"_Shit! I can't do this… I don't even know the guy,_" Emma hissed feeling anxious and uneasy.

_Was she really going go through this?_ Since there hadn't been any window in the bathroom she was trapped, unable to escape this time. She turned to water to ice cold, feeling her breathing nearly stopping for a second until her body adapted to it fast. It didn't feel the same though, the adrenaline kick wasn't the same anymore with the quick change of temperatures as if had used to be. She turned the water back to the warm and closed her eyes, wanting to remain in the shower the whole night. Knowing that was not an option, she decided to take the bull by the horns and let it happen. She was not going to die as a virgin. She let out a small laugh after that thought of the bull and horns. _So fitting for Loki. Was she going to take Loki by his horns?_ _Maybe he could put his helmet on in bed. That would have been wicked!_

As she was about to turn off the water she had that feeling again that she wasn't there alone. It almost made her freeze since she had locked the door. She got a glimpse in the corner of her eye that Loki joined her in the shower. With one quick glance over her shoulder proved it right. He stepped behind her, fully undressed and well equipped by the looks of it. _No reason for the size issues there! _

With a gasp Emma turned her face away from him, unable to speak. She felt her heart racing as he put his hands on her shoulders, moving so close to her that their naked bodies touched. It was like a jolt of adrenaline. She felt his hard erection against her back and it nearly made her scream. _Oh, Jesus Christ! If he was going to fit that log of his inside of her she was going to die!_

"What are you doing here?" she whispered because she couldn't speak any louder, the anxiousness latching her voice.

"I hope you do not mind. I grew tired of waiting," Loki whispered, pressing his cheek against her wet hair, letting himself too get wet under the pouring water, taking great pleasure in of the sensation of having her warm bare body against his. There wasn't any other place in the world he would have rather been on that moment than there with her. And once he had gotten rid off the boy, he had spent a while watching at her in the shower by unveiling himself with an illusion, approving what he saw.

"I… mind…" Emma kept sighing unable to think clearly. "Look, you must understand that I don't normally do this."

"Take a shower?" Loki teased, speaking to her ear over her shoulder.

Emma let out a small uneasy laugh. "No. I mean getting naked with someone I barely know." She swallowed, his big hands fondling her arms as she tried to cover herself. "Or making… love…"

Loki smiled fondly to that. "Is this love we are making?" he asked, sensing how his touch made her tremble and her voice quivering but she didn't ask him to stop.

The way he spoke in his honey voice was like whisperers of a fallen angel, tempting her into a forbidden game. "I… don't… know… You tell me!" How could have she known what love supposed to feel like. There hadn't been any love in her life in eight years, only hatred that had turning into indifference within time. What she felt with him was the closest thing to love she knew.

"My dear, you are shivering. Let me hold you until you feel safe with me," Loki said softly wrapping his arms around her.

Emma took note she was panting, unable to control her quickened breathing, his hands caressing her on their way down to her waist, making her trembling even more. She was afraid to turn, being naked in front of him, feeling more vulnerable than ever. Closing her eyes as his mouth caressed down on her neck, she mustered up her courage, feeling the heat taking a hold of her. _Take the bull by the horns! _she told to herself. "_I'll take you by the horns,_" she murmured whispering, her face turning towards him, her mouth meeting up with his.

"Oh, you just do that," Loki whispered back into her mouth with a smile, turning her around towards him, kissing her under the pouring water where they were melting into as one.

Sharing his smile and giving into the feeling, her hands traveled on his shoulders. She knew that the ardent attraction between them were more physical than anything else, pulling them toward each other like nothing else she had ever faced. She couldn't fight it, nor did she want to. On that moment he felt the safest thing there was.

Loki wanted to feel every part of her, claiming her whole body to his own. His hands wandered on her naked frame, exploring her as he washed her gently, and he let her wash him with soap, his hair and his body, as if it would have been a part of some sort of ritual cleansing, an ablution before the act itself. He guided her small hands when she felt too shy to continue on her own. And she couldn't do much but to go with him, and with her emotions and those were running wild inside of her. She studied his slender but muscular, tall body, admiring him while her hands roamed on him with a will of their own. He had no flaws, no scars, and only a couple of moles. He was simply perfect, his pale skin never been kissed by the sun.

She was in no state to resist him when he turned off the shower, wrapped her in a soft towel and picked up in his arms. There was one more gift he had for her waiting just behind the door as he carried her out of the bathroom.

"What happened to the room?" Emma asked overly amazed, her gaze wandering around in the space that wasn't anymore their hotel suite but a spectacular sight from a long sandy beach by a seaside. The perfect illusion of a palmy beach was basking in the breathtaking shades of reds, oranges and pinks of the setting sun, the scenery around it compellingly beautiful with high mountains rising from somewhere far behind the forest and the waves of the blue sea gently caressing the shore. The only thing left from the room was the four-poster bed that stood on the white sand under the darkening open sky. And they both being wet after the shower felt like they would have just taken a swim in the sea.

Loki glanced around at his illusion and returned then his eyes back at her. "I promised you a sunset, didn't I?"

"You did this for me?" Emma asked, tender emotions filling her voice.

"Please, do not cry now," Loki said with a small smile, carrying her onto the bed and laying down there with her. "Do you like it?"

"I love it." Emma brushed his wet, strayed raven hair behind his ear and stroked his cheek with her fingers as he lied next to her on his side leaning to his elbow. "No one has ever done anything this wonderful for me. Loki, thank you. This is amazing. You are amazing," she said, admiring the dreamlike beach and mostly him by her side. _By the god, he was perfect._ There was no other word to describe him, and he was making her feel so very special. "I've never felt like this with anyone."

He touched her burning cheek with the back of his fingers, trailing his fingers over her chin, teasingly slowly down to her neck and over the dip in her neck, heading even lower, unwrapping her towel, enjoying the intense reactions it seemed to bring to her. "Nor have I. You make me feel alive like I would have been reborn by the Eternal Flame," he sighed and leaned to claim her lips once again, her touches on his wet skin were like the burning kisses of the Eternal Flame itself.

He couldn't get enough of her lips, kissing her while lying on the bed with her, his hand continuing its journey on her, caressing her small but perfect breasts, down over her belly and slowly between her thighs as she opened them for him. Emma let out a silent moan into his mouth, his fingers discovering her most sacred part, finding her ripe and wet. She could swear that Loki was smiling as he was kissing her, his cheeks rising with that smug grin of his. He let his finger slip inside of her, touching her softly and he loved the way she responded to his touch, opening to him even more. They being whole different races, he had wanted to ensure their compatibility in the physical level. _Checked!_ But she felt so very tight it made him pondering would he ever fit in there.

"Loki," Emma panted, her cheeks burning red, gazing into his eyes timidly, "I know it's so lame, but I'm 25 and I've never done this before."

He stopped and looked at her, his wet hair hanging down on the sides of his face towards her. "You are a virgin?" he asked actually sounding a bit surprised even that was what he would have wanted. Her vulgar language and her kissing had given him a reason to think otherwise. He swallowed and gathered himself quickly. "I never expected anything else from an unmarried young woman like you."

Emma tried not to squirm in the building up lust, his fingers making magic on her. "Oh, you're such a liar or then you don't know very much about the Earth's girls."

"I think I know enough..." He took a nervous breath, the sensation of bedding a maiden who had never lain with a man before arousing him and scaring him at the same time. The most insane thought popped up into his mind; he should have married her first. "Are you certain you want to do this, Emma? If you want to stop, then please, ask me to stop now, not when I am inside of you."

His hesitation and concern of her made her wanting him even more. "I want to do this with you, Loki."

"Then I will make you mine," he said simply and shivering as he could feel and hear that she was more than willing for him. She wanted to become his and that was all he wanted to know. He rolled on top of her, settling between her opened legs, pulling her knees up and guiding her with his subtle moves. _She was all and completely his._

"Wait! I want to make this safe. You do have the protection, don't you?" Emma asked with a slight of concern, staring up into his emerald eyes as he lowered himself on her.

_There was no more turning back from it._ "You are perfectly safe with me, with your king," he whispered, a fervent tone in his dark voice as he entered into her slowly, fearing that he would break her.

Emma gasped clutching onto his arms like a drowning as he was taking the remains of her innocence, fully and hard, invading her, and she had opened the gates for him. "Ah… no, I meant..."

His heated kiss cut off her sentence, Emma moaning into his mouth, her hands grabbing a tight hold on his back. Loki had to fight his own urges and held himself back not to enter her too forcefully but to make his way softly into the unspoiled maiden. Her nails dug deeper into his skin on his back and she whimpered under him, her eyes closed, making him feeling himself being the cruelest tormentor she had ever faced and he wasn't even completely there yet. His mouth left hers and he stopped, gazing down at her in concern.

"Emma, look at me. Tell me, am I hurting you too much?" he sighed, his voice trembling too. The hardest part was to hold himself back. "Please, do not ask me to stop now."

Emma opened her eyes slowly, meeting up his gaze, shivering all over. She had known it might hurt at the first time but she hadn't ever imagined that it would hurt so much. He felt heavy on her, more heavier than she had expected him to be. She could have never found enough strength to push him off but she had no reason to do that. "Then don't stop. It hurts, yes. Please, gently..." she whispered, her words dropping from her lips one by one in the pace of her fast breathing.

With her consent Loki continued as she had begged, gently. He kissed her fiercely, breathing in the same air with her, overwhelmed with the sensation of the way she felt against him, around him, feverishly making love to her, trying to be as gentle as he could. The deeper he got in her, the harder he got, and if he would have been simply seeking out for his own satisfaction he could have reached into that easily. And if he would have known what kind of pleasure a mortal could give him he would have paid a little visit to Earth aeons ago. Maybe he wasn't ruling this realm yet, but he certainly ruled her world, so completely that she had no means to defy him.

Slowly it begun feeling easier, she was tight around him, but he could sensed it that she was beginning to enjoy of him just as if she would have adjusted to him. He wondered if her body would have been able to adapt even to something like this. She responded to his every thrust with such an appreciation that he didn't want to take his eyes off her. With every sweet moan, with every eager move of her hips in his rhythm made him wanting to go on harder just to get another moan, another thrust of her own against him. Her hands traveled on his back, clutched on him and kept going, stroking him and digging her nails in his skin leaving her own markings on him.

The way he took her was a mixture of pleasure and pain, a sweet torment that she gave into completely, anchoring her legs around his waist. She couldn't control of herself and for a small moment she feared that he was truly bringing her beast-side out. What he did to her felt amazing. It felt like she would have had a god between her legs. She almost laughed to that in ecstasy, realizing that she actually did have a god inside of her, and with every thrust he claimed her, he owned her like a king.

Loki heard her breathing quickening, she was panting under him and he knew he was doing something right. And it excited him to the wildest measures. He heard her small whispers of 'oh god' and he wanted her to know exactly who she was being with. "Say my name, Emma!" he spoke into her ear with his dark voice. He wanted to hear her saying it.

His husky voice made her fall. "Loki!" she kept panting his name in his pace like she would have been chanting the most powerful spell to unlock the secrets of the infinity.

The god of mischief had thought he could have gone on all night but when she reached to the top, her hands taking a firm grip from his buttocks to stop him escaping from her like she would have owned him and her insides convulsing in a violent rhythm around him, she was forcing him to come along. The illusion around them faded away, bringing back the room they were in. The whole world could have burned in flames, in the fires of Ragnarok, around them but he wouldn't have cared a damn. All he felt was her, hot and fierce, evidently seized by her inner darkness that he had lured out. He followed her as she pulled him with her into the mindless abyss of vast gratification. He fell down into a small Valhalla with her, low grunts and groans of pleasure escaping from the depths of his throat, him pulsing inside of her.

When he found strength enough he withdrew from her and lowered himself a bit, but remained between her legs, slumping his head resting on her chest, closing his eyes and listening the race of her heart that slowed down little by little. She was a beautiful little mortal who had made a god to fall and for that he couldn't have been more grateful. He felt good being there, her hands caressing his hair, petting him softly. She felt like a small piece of heaven he had conquered, and he wouldn't have ever wanted leave.

Emma lied in silence under him basking in a euphoric afterglow, so sore but gratified. She had never felt anything like that. Not in her wildest fantasies she could have ever thought that it would be something so fierce, rough and pleasurable at the same time. She hadn't had any idea what it was to be a woman until now. She stroked his black, long hair. It was all she was capable of, him lying heavily on top of her. _Now she knew why the term was a Frost Giant_, she smiled to herself, pondering had he broken something inside of her. She felt herself healing, the aching in her abdomen leaving her, but then bittersweet tears filled her eyes and she felt like crying, the variety of emotions running through her.

The reality was pulling Loki back from the dreamlike state of sweet forgetfulness when he heard her soft sobs. When he opened his eyes the first thing he noticed was the small wrappers on the floor she had given him and only then realized the real purpose for those. It only then occurred to him that he had released his Jotun seeds inside of her. _It was alright, he was going to marry her,_ he considered, coming up with a weak solution for the problem.

Leaning onto his forearms he lifted his head to meet her tear-filled gaze, a sweet concern seizing his emerald eyes, fearing he had read her signs all wrong and taking advantage of her vulnerable state like a savage. "Oh… Emma, I am sorry. I am so sorry… I am a fool…" he whispered in a sorry tone, getting on all fours and crawling by her side, touching her face.

Emma smiled at him a bit, wiping her eyes on the back of her hand and turning towards him. "Loki, you have no reason to be sorry about. It is just this typical silly me…" she whispered, caressing his cheek tenderly, seeing the emotions sweeping thought his eyes. "It is just that I never thought that I could let anyone this close. I've been afraid so long… about what I am… But I'm not afraid with you. You don't even realize that you are special in so many ways."

A small smile returned to his thin lips with a relief as Loki laid his head on a pillow next to hers and pulled her in his arms. "Then I take that you liked it?" he asked in an excited voice like a child who had found a new toy to play with.

"I did," she admitted shyly but enthralled by him. "Are you sure you are just a god of mischief? I think you just earned yourself a new title; how about a god of divine sex?"

Loki grinned and combed his fingers through his strayed hair. He would have blushed if he would have been a blushing type. "I will take that title matter on reconsideration."

They lied a while in each others arms, caressing one another, talking about silly little matters of no importance and planning where to head from England.

"Can I see you the way you really are, Loki?" Emma asked then after a small silence.

"You want to see my Jotun form?"

"Yes."

"Emma, no."

"Please."

"I might hurt you in that form. My touch might even kill you."

"If that would be true, I wouldn't be here now. The first time we met, your hand was on my throat. Remember?"

"I do not want to remember that. I wish I would have never done that to you."

"I know… Your hand was freezing cold but I am still here."

"Will you show me your gills then?"

"Come to dive with me some time and I'll show you."

Loki looked at her suffering. She was asking him for something he wouldn't have wanted to do, fearing for her sake. He remembered what a Frost Giant's touch had done to Volstagg during their unsuccessful visit on Jotunheim.

He moved back a bit and took his true appearance, fighting hard against Odin's sorcery that kept him looking an Asgardian, gazing at her with his all red eyes. He hadn't seen himself fully in this form before. The sweat on his blue skin froze and he was afraid that his touch might freeze her too. Emma touched his hand gently, feeling his freezing touch under her fingers but it did nothing to her. In her eyes he was still the same, he was still beautiful. Not being afraid she lifted her hand on his cheek, touching the scar like markings on his forehead and on his cheeks, trailing her fingers over them and Loki could only beheld her on her exploration. She studied his face gently and leaned closer kissing his ice cold lips which made a tear glimmering in the corner of his eye. She took him as the way he was, with his curse and all. Loki didn't dare to continue. He let himself returned back into his Asgardian form. It was safer.

He lied on his side and leaned to his elbow, staring into her blue eyes, touching her cheek with the back of his fingers the warmth returning into his touch. "Laufeyson," he whispered as if for a small confession. "That's what I would have been known across the Nine Realms if things had gone differently. Loki, son of Laufey." He said it with a pained voice, thinking about how unfair his whole life had been until this moment. He met her gaze again an uncertain smile flickering across his face. "You would have not wanted me, if I wouldn't have been misshaped for a Frost Giant. I would have been more than twice of your size, a coarse brute that would have ripped you apart."

Emma had difficulties to imagine that. "Did you know your true parents at all?"

"Not really. I met Laufey only three times. At the first time when I had been born he abandoned me to die in to a frozen temple. On the second time I saw him in Jotunheim when Thor and I went there, against Odin's prohibition, asking for trouble. On the last time, when he attacked Asgard, I killed him being aware that I was his flesh and blood. I wished he would have known that his death came at the hand of his own son he had once forsaken. Maybe, on his last breath he knew who I was because it was I who allured him to Asgard." Loki was quiet for a moment, pondering would his revelation frighten her or could she understand. "So, that is how noble is the man you are being with."

Emma stroked his cheek, not fully understanding the story behind his words. But what she understood perfectly was his pain. "I can't really blame you for that. There are a lot of same in you and me. The only thing my father ever gave to me was this curse of mine. I've never seen him. Oh, how I wish I could have been in Asgard with you. I can only imagine how lonely you must have been."

He took her hand on his and let their fingers entwine with each other. "Who could have known I had to journey across the cosmos to find someone who understands me like you do, Emma."

"Maybe in this mad world there is some purpose for everything that happens after all."

_"There is always a purpose for everything your father does."_

Frigga's words came back haunting in his mind and Loki recalled his conversations with his adopted mother. It suddenly felt like Emma would have understood him like Frigga did without judgment. "Do you think there is hope for us?" Loki asked.

"I'd like to think so. I believe there is always hope, as long as there is life left. Aren't we both kind of living proofs of that?"

Loki stared at Emma after her words, the reason for him to caring for her so much entering into his mind.

Emma smiled shyly. "Why are you looking me like that?"

"I realized, you remind me of my mo... of Frigga."

At first Emma was truly touched but then tried no to grin. "Um, that is definitely the one thing every girl wants to hear in bed." _Being compared to the guy's mother._

Loki gave her a smile, getting the joke. "There is no other as virtuous woman as she is. She used to say that same thing; that there is always hope. I found it hard to believe back then."

"You do care for her?"

"I have always cared her above anyone else. And I like to believe that she has always loved me as if I would have been her own."

Emma fought hard not to say 'aww', him speaking so fondly about his adopted mom. She was glad to hear about it and that was the impression she had gotten when the queen of Asgard visited him back in Greenland. There had been at least one person who had loved him unconditionally. And she loved that gentle newfound side of him. He was a far from a monster he thought of himself to be.

Loki noticed her affectionate expression. He couldn't believe the things he had told her, sounding like a complete idiot. "Are you sure you are not a witch? You are turning me into a big soft oaf."

"I like you being a big soft oaf," Emma cooed at him cautiously smiling, her hand on his.

Loki shook his head in disapproval. "Enough with this sentimentality. Woman, I have a reputation to maintain," he said with a witty grin, pulling her under him, and she let out a surprised scream as he crawled on top of her again, a gleam in his eyes unashamed and promising deeper, darker pleasures. "So, are you ready? This time we go on my terms." His voice changed from sweet and caring into dark and seductive as he held from her wrists and took her hands on both sides of her head.

"What are you doing?" Emma gasped as he moved between her legs, finding his way into her again. "Ah... I'm not yet recovered from the first time. Wait! Oh… god!"

"Oh, do not call upon other gods when you are with me."

Emma let out a pained small laugh. "No, wait! Stop, please!" she gasped again feeling him being too rough on her. "This is serious! Oh, for fuck's sake! Shit!"

Loki stopped, staring down at her frowning. "If you are going to talk dirty, say something less vulgar, please."

"Sorry... but, I think I've turned back being a virgin. It hurts like hell. Please, stop!" she asked begging.

Loki's jaw dropped open, him pulling back. "Are you telling me that you actually healed completely from down there?"

She looked nearly scared gazing up into his eyes. _Her healing ability was going to fuck up her whole future sex-life._ "It's never going to get easier...?"

"I am sorry I hurt you."

"It's alright. I wasn't prepared, for this."

Loki looked sorry at first but then a dark smile crept on his lips as he let go of her hands and took a hold of her body. "Hmm, this is unusual. No matter what I would do to you, in the end you will return being unspoiled. Clearly you were made to be my queen, my precious darling," he whispered in a husky, erotic voice into her ear.

Emma let out an uneasy tiny giggle, his voice giving her goosebumps. "Oh, you have some really scary pillow talks, big guy."

"Not just talks. I can take you as a new every time. Oh, you will always be mine. I shall never let you go," he continued and rolled them another way around effortlessly. Compared to him she was as light as a feather. He was going to let her do it in her own pace this time, lying on his back and enjoying to look at her.

Being on the top, Emma kissed him and took a moment to look into his emerald eyes. In physical strength she was no match for the Asgardian deity, not even close. That's why she loved his capability for tenderness and his willingness to treat her gently. "I really like you, Loki."

He stroked her face softly, drawing his finger from her forehead over her cheek. "I am greatly fond of you too, Emma."

Emma gave him a curious smile, showing him the long scarf she found from the bed. "Then, I was wondering, what were you planning to do with this?"

Loki smiled back at her mischievously. "I would have tied you up in the bed if you would have tried to run away from me again."

She looked actually surprised. "Oh yeah?"

"Oh yes."

"Well then," she murmured and took his right hand, tying the other end of the scarf around his wrist. "You are a bad boy. And I'm going to show you how things are done in Earth," she said, holding back her grin, sounding as tempting as she managed with a twist of dominatrix, and tying his other wrist too. _She was so going to make him forget about his mom!_

With a curious grin Loki watched her. "Do you really think this would hold me?" he asked when she pulled his arms above his head, hooking the scarf around of the ornate headboard of the bed and leaving him tied up with his own fancy scarf.

"Play along now! In my teen years me and my friends were devouring Cosmopolitans, the magazines, not the drinks. I picked up a few tricks but never actually got into the point of trying any of them, because... well, you know." She felt a need to explain a bit. The mere thought of it had always made her sick, but he was being an exception. She was so intoxicated of him that she could have done anything to please him.

"What are you up to, my Valkyrie?" Loki asked, but Emma hushed him, her finger over his lips.

"My king will keep his hands to himself, while I'm taking him to Valhalla like a proper Valkyrie."

"Hm?"

Emma kissed him again, her lips moving on to his neck, kissing and biting him gently, making her way over his chest. Loki closed his eyes and bit his lower lip in a perplexed delightment, when her mouth caressed his belly and headed lower, due south. He braced himself for the new experience, thrusting his head on the pillow, her sweet mouth getting closer to his crotch. Never had he been worshiped like this before. And he was pretty sure that the valkyries never used this method but he had no heart to tell that to her now. He felt himself getting harder than ever, the anticipation filling him. He was breathing heavily and clenched his fists. And then;

"What the hell?" Emma gasped. "You are not wearing the rubber!"

Loki let out a loud sigh, his eyes opening fast, she staring back at him upset over him. "Huh? Why did you stop?" he whimpered. _What ever happened to the part of getting to Valhalla?_

"Please tell me, you wore the condom in the first time we had sex?"

Loki swallowed, his hands tied. This was the worse torment he had faced, she getting there so close and then stopping to questioning him. "Of course..."

"You swear?"

"Would I lie?"

"I don't know. Would you, Trickster?"

"I swear. Cross my heart. I thought there was no need for it on the second time."

"What?" _What kind of idiotic brain fart was that?_ "You always use it with me! Always!" Emma noticed the opened wrapper on the floor and took his explanation of it. "No offence, but I have no desire of getting some odd Asgardian STDs."

"Of what?"

"Your people's sex diseases."

"Rest assured that I am immune to all known diseases and do not carry any," Loki assured her, "I am a god."

She picked up another wrapper and opened it. "And I'm careful. Some people keeps telling about this old educational story about a girl called Maria who met her God once. That happened like two millennia ago but they still talks about it. Don't know if you've heard about it in Asgard, but things got a lot complicated from there. All I'm saying is that, even I like you, I'm not ready for little blue icicle babies," she said while she timidly rolled the rubber on its proper place. _Well, it seemed her practice with a banana paid off._

Loki was holding his laughter, listening to her little tale, letting her have her way with him, his hands being a bit tied up. He loved the way she made him laugh, even being naked and tied to the bed. He didn't like to lie to her, but he had gotten used to lie to save his own skin so many times that thought a little white lie wouldn't hurt anyone.

"Then why would you bed with me, if you are not willing to become the mother of my monster children?"

Emma grimaced with an uneasy smile. "As if you've never done anything just for a bit of fun."

Loki grinned back at her. He watched her as she moved sitting over his thighs, casting a shy gaze at him. Her discovery had been more or less a mood killer but he was still willing to continue. "Do carry on, please, little teaser."

"Close your eyes!"

"I am not closing my eyes while you are sitting like that in front of my, um, full glory."

"I'm about to do things to you I've never done before, to anyone," she smiled, blushing. _So much for being on control of the situation here!_ "If you touch me, I'm going to stop, or bite, possibly both. Understood?"

"Alright." Loki gave her a nod, and licked his lips as she leaned down over him, her long hair feeling silky soft and slightly wet around his groins. The sensation of the pleasurable warmth surprised him as she took him into her mouth and he let out an aloud moan.

He had expected her to go soft and gently but when she got the hang of it, he closed his eyes gasping and groaning in rapture, simply adoring her hot mouth on him. Never even in his wildest fantasies it had felt like this. She might have been merely a mortal and inexperienced, but she was sucking the sanity out of him as she continued it a few minutes devotedly. He wouldn't have wanted nothing more than to touch her hair, to hold her head between his hands, maybe make her go faster. He would have definitely wanted to conjure that stupid rubber out of the away.

He had to take a hold of the bed's headboard to control his hands, not to go disturbing her as he had promised. She was driving him so frenzy of pleasure that he tore up a huge piece from the massive oak headboard by merely holding on to it so fiercely.

Emma lifted her face up in a fright, remaining where she was, staring at him in awe while he was holding on the large piece of headboard over his head. "My god! Are. You. Alright?" she asked, being on a verge of burst out giggling. _She didn't know she was that good. Or then he she was doing something horribly wrong there!_

_Another! _Loki gasped vehemently like he would had stopped in a middle of a raging fight to take a breath, his eyes turning from the broken piece of wood at her, then nearly laughing at himself. "I am not touching you! For heaven's sake, don't stop now!" he panted.

Emma wiped the corner of her mouth on the back of her palm, thinking he might have tasted better without the rubber. "You like?"

"You need to ask?"

"Then maybe you would appreciate my efforts so much that you would drop your intentions of ruling the world and we can continued this little holiday forever. I know a few more tricks of my own."

Loki tossed the part of the headboard away on the floor and it made a hard slam. "You should know that I never bargain in bed."

Emma bit her lower lip with a frolic smile. "Damn! It was worth to try."

"You are not doing this just for the sake of humanity, are you?"

"Nah… I'm not really a _'for king and country'_ –kind of girl."

Loki's scarf was torn in half, the remains of the silky fabric hanging around his wrists, as he reached out for her with a smile. "Come over here, my little wanton!" he groaned and pulled her on his lap while he was sitting on the bed.

He wanted to touch her, feel her body against his and kiss her. Sitting astride on his lap Emma took him inside of her again and he let her go on in her own pace, enjoying of her enormously. Making love got easier much faster at the second time and they continued it at first playfully, then harder and ardently all they way to the small Valhalla once more.

A good hour later, Emma was exhausted after their passionate second round. She was lying against him, his arm around her, her head pillowing on his shoulder and her weary eyes willing to close. On that moment, he was her king, he was her whole world, and she knew nothing else.

"If I fall asleep, will you be here in the morning?" she asked quietly, a small concern in her voice, fearing he would vanish like his illusions.

"I promise I won't go anywhere. Rest now, my sweet Valkyrie," Loki assured tucking her and himself under the covers, caressing her head until she fell asleep next to him.

He wouldn't have mind of continuing their exploration on each other the whole night, but he knew she needed to rest. It had been a long day. He remained awake, listening her breathing, caressing her softly, reconsidering his plans for the world's domination. He had no hurry as long as he had her. They could have continued this little holiday forever. She had trusted him so completely, giving her body and her heart to him and he had taken them, wanting to be worth of her trust. And when he finally closed his eyes, he didn't feel like falling into the endless abyss anymore, he felt being safe and supported.

**… …**

Okay, this became a lot longer chapter than I originally planned. Thanks for reading. I hope you liked it. Please, review. I'll appreciate all comments even criticism as long as it's expressed in a friendly manner.

Don't think this was an end. This was just the beginning; the calm before the storm. There's still a lot of folk out there who wants to catch Loki.


	14. 14 The ball is over, Cinderella!

Back in Houston, Texas, in the NASA campus where the S.H.I.E.L.D.'s folk had taken him, Petteri Vuori sat behind his computer screen, drinking cherry-coke spiced up with vodka, surfing in the internet trying to gather up all the information he could find about the ancient Viking gods, anything that could have helped finding Emma and catching Loki. He had gone through everything he had found.

The search on Youtube with a search word 'Loki' brought him a huge number of hits; documents and funny videos of some people's pets, but the latest update caught his attention. He took a big gulp of his drink and hit the play button on the video. When it started, he nearly choked up with his mouthful, coughing hard while staring at the playing video. It was showing him that same mad demigod he had faced in Greenland; Loki showing magic tricks for an audience.

Pete gazed at the screen taken aback. He turned the voice louder and could pick up Emma's voice from the background. He played the video again, and again, and again. He checked up the channel where it was updated; _'Phantom's challenge'_.

"What the hell?" Pete murmured and went for his things searching feverishly for a calling card that the agent had given him. When he found it he sat again behind the lap top's screen, his hands shaking while picking up a phone, making sure he had really seen the video and it hadn't been just a product of his imagination.

Somewhere over the sleeping English countryside agent Coulson awoke from a short nap inside the Quinjet as the sound of his mobile phone awoke him. Coulson wiped his eyes and answered the phone in a tired voice. "Coulson."

"Have you found that Loki yet?"

Agent Coulson frowned, not recalling the voice immediately. "Excuse me. Who is this? Where have you gotten this number?"

"It's Petteri Vuori. We met in Greenland. You gave me your card and said that I should call if anything would come up with Emma Morgan."

"Ah, Mr. Vow-voouri." Those Scandinavian names were impossible to say without concentration. "Yes. Has Emma Morgan made a contact with you?"

"No. I assume you haven't found them either?"

"Not yet, but we are getting close."

"Well, have you tried Youtube?"

Coulson heaved a sigh. "There is no time for cat-videos!"

"Man, there is always time for cat-videos!"

"Are you drunk this time, sir?"

"Maybe a little."

"I said call me if you come up with something that could help us with their search. I'm going to hang up now."

"They are in middle England, more specifically somewhere in the Staffordshire."

Coulson put the phone back onto his ear. _How did this man know they were in England or in specific that region?_ "Go on, I'm listening."

"Do you have an internet access? I recommend you check up a Youtube channel called _Phantom's Challenge_. There are a bunch of some crazy snake videos and the latest update of Loki Odinson making magic tricks. I swear I heard Emma's voice on the background. I pinpointed the location where the video was uploaded. That's in England. Of course they could have used several foreign servers but..."

"How did you find out this?"

"I'm a nerd with an access to a NASA satellite."

"Alright, thank you. We will check that up. Is there anything else you have discovered?"

"Well… this is a kind of disturbing shit I had already forgotten… but the folklore says that Loki has given birth to an eight-legged horse… while being a mare…"

"Come again?"

"Yeah… I think I need another drink. I hope he's not turning Emma into a mad cow or something."

"Well... Call me again if you come up with anything else," agent Coulson said and put down his phone, gazing at his companions inside the jet. They had continued the search through the night, but now they all were in the jet, having an uncomfortable break. "Do we have an internet access here?" Coulson asked, directing his question to Tony and his fellow agents.

Tony Stark looked at him a bit offended. "Sure! Need to check up your Tinder profile, Phil?"

A little later Coulson, Tony, Natasha and Thor stared at a small screen of a laptop that one agent borrowed them. Damien's Youtube video of Loki's performance in front of a live audience left them all puzzled.

"What am I watching here?" Natasha asked frowning, unable to decide was Loki threatening those people or making a show for them.

"Wow! This guy's gonna be famous. Almost 3000 views and the video was uploaded like a few hours ago." Tony Stark took note. "Damn!"

Thor was only glad that Loki seemed to still be alive, but otherwise he was furious to his adopted brother. _What was Loki thinking?_ "So, can you find him with this realm wide net?" Thor asked, confused. "It sounds an impressive craftsmanship."

"World wide web! And, yeah. It's the best thing Earth has got to offer. You should try the basic how to use hammer videos," Tony said to the big Asgardian deity.

"Well, this is the best tip we got. Find out where that video was filmed and uploaded!" agent Coulson told to another agent that got eagerly into the work. Then he moved closer to Thor, getting uncomfortable about the next question. "Thor… er… has your brother ever given birth to a horse?" he asked whispering in a doubtful voice.

Thor stared at the agent a moment without a word but then burst out laughing like crazy like that had been the best joke he had ever heard. "Do mortals still talk about that?" he asked then chuckling, wiping his wet eyes. "That was a joke Fandral made centuries ago because Loki really like horses and he can transform himself into anything… Wait! You mortals do realize that it was only meant for a joke, right?"

**... ...**

The daylight made the room looking bright in the next morning when Emma awoke in the luxury four-poster bed. Touch of the heavenly soft bed sheets on her naked body made her wanting to stay under the covers the whole day. She lifted her head from the pillow after a sweet long sleep, smiling sated, glancing lazily around her and searching for Loki since he wasn't there next to her as she had hoped. She had fallen asleep in his safe arms, and there was his scent in the bed sheets but he was nowhere to be seen. _Oh, how she would have wanted to see his smile in the first thing when she opened her eyes._

Slowly Emma sat up, calling for him, feeling a bit betrayed. She took note there weren't any of his stuff in the room anymore. He had promised to stay and a part of her feared that she had been only a one night stand to him. After completely wooing her and gotten what he had wanted, he had left her alone.

_"Oh, w__elcome back to the reality, you brain-dead Cinderella!"_ she murmured to herself and ran her hands over her wild curls, berating herself for being such an idiot for trusting that beautiful Trickster. _Mom would have been so proud of her now!_

She noticed something small and white peeking from under the cover on his side of the bed and she lifted the fluffy quilt to see what it was. She couldn't helped but to burst out laughing finding a small Jotun-blue smurf doll sitting against his pillow.

"Loki?" She whispered, poking the thing with her finger. "It isn't you, is it?"

She picked up the stuffed doll into her arms and smelled it. It too had his divine scent and she held it for a while, hoping he hadn't gone very far. _So, he had remembered her calling him a smurf. How had he found out what a smurf was? And where had he found the doll?_ At least one thing was sure; he had learned to take himself less seriously.

"Now, you wait here, little Frosty. I'll be right back and then we'll go looking for that trickstering daddy of yours," she said to the smurf and placed in gently back on the bed. _Great! She was talking to a freaking doll now!_

With a grimace she glanced at the broken bed's headboard. _The old Grey folk were never going to do charity anymore after seeing that!_

She hopped off from the bed and went to bathroom, thanking god that she had an ability to heal fast, otherwise she wouldn't have been walking or sitting on that day at all. The magic of the last night with Loki still burning on her cheeks if she dared to think about it.

As she was getting dressed in the bathroom, she heard the room's door opening and a naughty grin returned to her lips. _Loki!_ She went back to the bedroom, slipping into her little black dress on her way. She was going to have to ask Loki changing her clothing again for something more appropriate.

"Good morning, you god of sex. Shall we go bumming for some breakfast?" she asked in a cheerful voice, walking out from the bathroom in barefoot, her attention caught by the zipper on the back of her dress.

"No, thank you. We already grabbed something on our way here," agent Coulson said as he stepped into the room like a boss, his loaded pistol pointing at her.

Emma lifted her gaze at the strange man horrid, only to find out that he hadn't come alone. There was already Thor in the room looking bleak, carrying his hammer. And after Coulson came agent Romanoff, her gun aiming at Emma, and the last came Ironman ready to strike.

Emma had assumed it was Loki who had entered into their room, but when she saw the intruder four, she stopped, staring at them in a shock, unable to say a word, holding on her unzipped dress as her cover. It was like she would have stepped straight into her worst nightmare. She made a quick calculation for her chances for an escape. There were no chances to get away from all of them. Especially that big blond warrior and Ironman gave her chills in a mean way.

"Mrs. Odinson? I'm agent Phil Coulson from the S.H.I.E.L.D. I guess you know why are we here," agent Coulson said, walking closer, scanning the room around him, looking for the big guy. He loved the old-fashioned glamour of the place and considered spending his next holiday in a place like that. He glanced quickly at the broken bed's headboard on the floor next to his feet and turned his questioning eyes at Emma.

Emma gasped, gravely embarrassed and afraid, finding herself trapped. It had been a fool thing to introduce them by Loki's real name. "Um… You've got the wrong room!" she tried her best to lie, moving backwards, towards the bathroom.

Thor shook his head. "No, she is a woman. She can not be anyone's son. Certainly not Odin's son." He realized that it was an insignificant matter, so he took a step closer her too. "But this is the same woman who was with Loki, I am sure of it. Hold on! Mrs.? Are you two married?"

"No! Definitely not!"

"Thank heavens! And you do know he is the god of mischief not um… sex?" the god of thunder spoke slightly uncomfortable about the subject and past her taking a quick glance at the bathroom.

_Yeah, he certainly wasn't the brightest star in the constellation, _Emma thought, stepping out of his way.

Thor turned then at her with a demanding look in his ocean blue eyes. "Where is my brother?"

"I don't know," Emma told and to her great dismay that was true. She gave Thor a look from head to toes, remembering everything Loki told her about him. He looked exactly the same as Loki had when the Trickster had pretended to be Thor. She was afraid of him. He was huge, maybe even taller than Loki and she didn't feel like fighting with him at that moment.

Tony Stark stepped in the center of the room in his full Ironman suit making a quick scan with his high-tech gadgets. "Infra-red, thermo- and gamma-radiation scans shows nothing. Thor, your bro is not here," he stated. "Wow, but now I'm curious what happened here," he continued, meaning the broken headboard, as he took off his helmet, giving Emma a flirty grin. "Well, it seems that someone's been a naughty girl, still wearing a cocktail dress in this time in the morning. You need a hand with that, honey? I'm good with zippers," he said offering a helping hand. "I like zippers."

"Agent Romanoff, could you please help Ms. Morgan getting decent?" Coulson suggested.

"Fine," Natasha said and put her gun down and stepped behind Emma. "Just give me a reason to put a bullet in you!" she menaced, zipping Emma's dress with an unfriendly manner, pulling then Emma's arms in front of her and handcuffing her unmercifully.

Feeling helpless and been caught, Emma had no means to fight back. She just had to go along with them. A princess fairy tale had just turned into a freaking nightmare.

"Ms. Morgan, you would do yourself a great favor by telling us where Loki is," agent Coulson offered, walking a small circle in the room and put his gun away.

"I'm telling you, I don't know where he is," Emma reassured, telling the truth, moving along as agent Romanoff was taking her towards the door, holding on from her arm.

She gave one more glance over her shoulder at the suite that had been the best place in the world for her for one night, her eyes caught up with the blue smurf doll on the bed. She felt a tear creeping in the corner of her eye even she swore she wouldn't weep. _Has she been a complete fool for trusting Loki?_ She should have known what kind of trickster he was. He had left her after having his way with her. A small part of her doubted would she ever see him again. She had sworn she wouldn't let anyone treat her the way her mom had been treated by so many men. She thought she would have been smarted than this, that she'd had learned from her mom's mistakes, but now she reasoned that everyone had to learn it the hard way.

She let out an aggrieved snort, yielding, when the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents were escorting her out. But she refused to regret any of it she had had with him. At least she had felt being alive with him that small moment.

"Wait!" Emma yelped passing over the threshold. Agent Coulson turned to look at her with a hope of co-operation. "I want to have that stupid doll with me!" she demanded and that was all said.

**... …**

"Well, I must say they were impressive creatures indeed," Loki admitted, being in a good mood, walking side by side with Damien back from the stables. They had been taking a look at the Greys horses as he had promised to the young boy. He had always liked horses. They had those in Asgard as well and he loved riding.

It was a bright beautiful morning, the flourishing green garden around them worth to admire, and Loki felt marvellous after the night he had spent with Emma. She had made him feeling appreciated anew, in a whole new way, and his feelings towards her had only grown stronger. _Was it love?_ He wasn't sure about that. And even Frigga had gently encouraged him courting a young maiden, he was certain that the queen of Asgard wouldn't have ever approved this outcome outside the wedlock. It was irrational how quickly, how effortlessly, they had gone beyond courting. Maybe it was pure madness what he had with her. Emma had become his greatest distraction, he admitted, but he wanted to cherish her in every way possible. She was his now, and she was as sweet as the chocolate she so much enjoyed. That thought made him smile. _Yes, he most definitely had lost the rest of his sanity with her._

Loki hadn't had the heart to wake her when she had been sleeping so peacefully by his side and he had only left her for a moment, pressing a kiss on her forehead before leaving. He and Damien had gone out very early in that morning and he had hoped he would get back before Emma awakes, staying there next to her when she opens her lovely eyes as he had promised to her. He found out that it was very hard to keep all his promises. That's why he had usually avoided committing himself to too attaching promises.

"Yeah, weren't they great? I like to ride sometimes. Maybe we could go riding later today. Did you know that even the queen loves horses? My dad met her once in a polo tournament. He was playing there and his team won."

Loki shook his head in amusement. The boy surely liked to talk when someone was listening to him. He would have loved to stay in that place for a few more days but he saw it wiser to continue their journey with Emma. "Tell me about the queen."

"The queen Elizabeth is an old lady, very nice but tough. Have you not seen her? Not even in the pictures or from TV?"

"I am afraid not."

"That's weird. Oh, guess what? This morning when I checked up my channel, there were already 3900 views on your video," Damien told excited, "My videos have never gotten that much views before, ever. People really like you and your tricks."

Loki's forehead furrowed by a pure bewilderment. "You should tell me more about these animated illusions of yours. Are you saying the all the people in the world would see them?" Loki asked interested.

As he lifted his gaze at the manor far ahead he stopped walking, noticing the bustle that hadn't been there when they had left.

Two Quinjets were landed on the green garden field in front of the manor. There were several big black cars parked around the buildings and soldiers in black outfits swarming everywhere. They looked very much the same as the ones he'd met on the Greenland's glacier. _So, the S.H.I.E.L.D. had found them!_

Loki turned looking grim, his splendid mood already broken. And then the unpleasant fact entered his mind, twisting his inside with cold worry; he had left Emma there alone, unprotected and unaware of his whereabouts. "Want to see another trick, Damien?" he asked and with one golden glow he transformed himself looking like the boy's father, who he had seen from a photo in the boy's room yesterday. He needed a disguise to get in there to her.

The young one stared at him in silence, tears glimmering in the corner of his eyes. "A-are you an angel?"

"No, but close."_ A god would do!_

The boy suddenly gave Loki a long hug, wrapping his small arms around his waist, leaving the god of mischief utterly confused.

"What are you doing?" Loki asked staring down at the young one.

"Loki, you look just like my dad!" said Damien, letting him go and moving back a bit in awe. "But he's a bit shorter I think."

Loki put his finger over his lips to tell the boy to keep quiet. "Do not call me Loki, alright? Just act as if I would be your father. Can you do that for me?" the god of mischief asked and gave his hand to the boy, who took it with a great trust and holding on tight. "So, tell me, what is your father's name?"

Disguised as Mr. Nathaniel Grey, Loki strode across the yard with the boy, taking note that he was being greatly outnumbered. The S.H.I.E.L.D. agents dressing in black, heavy combat outfits were scattered all around the yard, and the hotel guests were gathered there in small groups like herds of livestock.

Loki was getting closer to the entrance when he made a stop as he saw a group of people coming out, lead by agent Coulson who he had seen while his short visit in New Mexico. The agent was followed by Thor, and Loki felt his rage rising. Then to his concern he noticed Emma, chained in handcuffs, escorted by an equally small red-haired woman. After them came the man in the metal armor.

_They had caught her!_ Loki felt his heart skipping a beat when he watched them taking Emma towards one of the jets, she walking there on barefoot with only her little black dress on. She looked embarrassed and shattered like she would have given up all hope. _He shouldn't have ever left her alone!_ His breathing shivered with anxiety and he barely controlled himself, nearly running after her, wanting to save her from her capturers. But he took a moment to consider his chances, calming himself down. A stab of remorse hit him with a thought that Emma would probably believe that he had abandoned her coldly and left to the wolves.

"Why are they taking Emma away? Has she done something bad? Is she a criminal?" Damien asked whispering from Loki, confused about the strange bustle all around them.

It was only then when Loki remembered he was there with the boy who was holding his hand. He glanced down at the young one, still looking like the boy's father. "No, she has done nothing wrong. They are looking for me," he admitted quietly.

"Why?"

"Because they are evil people who doesn't like my tricks."

Damien looked at Loki determinately. "Don't worry. I'm good keeping secrets. I won't tell them a thing about you."

Loki gave the boy an encouraging pat on his small shoulder with a smile. "Thank you, my young friend. Now, go back inside and wait me there!"

**… …**

"Sit down!" Natasha Romanoff told to Emma once they were inside the Quinjet and buckled her to the seatbelts on the side of the cabin. Emma sat in silence, gazing out through the opened rear hatch, unsure what would happen to her now.

The female agent tossed the smurf doll into her lap. "Here! You're going to need something soft to hold on after we're done with you," she said ominously and sat opposite her.

Loki strode through the scattered crowd of soldiers and the hotel's guests towards the jet after agent Coulson who was having a word with the soldiers outside. "Excuse me! Someone's better tell me, what the blazing hell is going on here!" he said in an aloud and upset voice sounding like a British gentleman, managing to control of his anger.

The nearby soldiers turned their weapons at him as a precaution, stepping closer.

Coulson cast a suspicious gaze at the man. "Who are you, sir?"

"I am Nathaniel Grey. I own this establishment with my parents," he said sounding convincing, giving a short glance at Emma, who sat in the jet out of his reach. He took note that she had that silly blue doll with her he had left there in the bed for her. She was holding onto it like a scared child and it made him shuddering inside, thinking how afraid she must be there alone.

Coulson took a quick check from a list of the hotel guests and staff. "Your name is not on the list, sir," he said and the armed soldiers around him took a defending step closer to the gentleman.

Loki noticed the red dots of the laser sights gathering on his chest like a bunch of angry bees and he concentrated to his act. "I've just arrived here, with my son," he said pointing his hand at the boy who ran inside. "We are running a decent business here. Why are you harassing our guests?"

"I am sorry, sir, for the inconvenience. We won't be here long," agent Coulson said to the gentleman. "We are looking for one of your hotel guests. He was booked in as Loki Odinson. Do you happen to know his whereabouts? Once we'll find him, we'll be out of your property."

"I'm afraid I don't know who you are talking about. We don't keep track of our guests as long as they pay their bills. What have this man done? Should we be worried? Is there a terrorist threat upon us?" Loki asked, glancing around him at the soldiers and his brother who strode further away, searching at him and making himself looking ridiculously busy.

Loki knew he would have the advantage of a surprise on his side but there still was Thor and Ironman who had seemed to made a pact. And all those soldiers with their weapons. He would have pulled through it but Emma may not have been that lucky.

Coulson gave a sign to his men to drop guard. Loki's act had convinced him. "Nothing that serious. He's an international con-artist, whom we have been tracking a year already."

"Is that so?" Loki asked, despising the agent's attempt to lie about him. "What about that young lady?" Loki nodded towards the jet. "I believe she is one of our guests."

"We caught his partner. I'm sure she would prove us useful information that would help us to catch him."

Loki got worried of how they were planned to get that information out of her. He watched at her trying his best to conceal his concern, his hands clenching into fists. He needed to act, and he needed to act fast.

Emma stared at the dark-haired tall man who talked with Coulson. His pose was so much like Loki's. There were some tiny gestures he made that reminded her of him. She closed her eyes, thinking was she becoming mad, seeing him in every person that walked by. She knew he could change his appearance, she had seen it with her own eyes. All she knew, he could have been that mean bitch sitting opposite her, legs and arms crossed, glowering at her under her brows. He could have been Damien who she had seen running into the manor in the corner of her eye a while ago. He could have been that stupid smurf she was holding, well maybe not. He could have been a crass hopper which chirping she heard carrying through all the noises from outside. He could have been even the queen of England if he would have wanted to.

There were a lot of people around them, but Emma got that feeling, as if she would have sensed him being somewhere near. She opened her eyes and gazed outside again. That man who talked with the male agent. He watched at her a short moment, a few seconds longer than you normally looked at a stranger. Her eyes grew larger with a quick realization, her heart pounding fast, but she tried to hold herself as calm as possible. It could have been him. She had never seen that man in her life but he kept gazing at her a bit concerned every now and then.

Natasha leaned closer to Emma taking a glance outside where she had been looking at, getting up on her feet, and touching her earpiece. "We may have a possible target in front of the manor. All units proceed with extra caution. Check everyone!" Natasha said sternly into her earpiece, giving a quick look at Emma.

"What?" Emma frowned, upset, staring at the red-haired woman. _The bitch had read her reactions._

It was the first time Natasha smiled at the prisoner. "Thank you for your cooperation," she smirked and moved on the opening of the rear hatch, taking a better look outside, pinpointing possible targets.

Emma stared at the man who had quitted his chat with the male agent, giving him a subtle shake of head when he glanced at her once again, and mouthing to him to _'Go, please'_.

_Emma knew it was him. She knew he hadn't forsaken her_, Loki thought smiling inwardly_._ But she wanted him to leave, being worried for his sake. _Silly little woman! She should have been worried for her own sake._ He pondered did she truly care for him so much that she was willing to sacrifice her life for him. He sensed the agents and soldiers around him getting in alerted state, beginning to scouting up for him from among the confused people in front of the manor.

With heavy hearts he turned away as she had asked him and started walking slowly towards the entrance, feeling himself being the worst coward there was. He couldn't leave her on their mercy. He made a quick calculation of his enemies around him, valuating his chances with every step he took. The circle of the soldiers around them grew tighter. He noticed the metal man stepping in front of the entrance, guarding the place. Then he heard the familiar heavy steps approaching him from behind, and he nearly smiled knowing it was Thor, before his brother placed his hand on his shoulder making him to stop.

"Loki?" Thor asked, holding the dark-haired man from his shoulder. He was certain it was his mischievous brother in a false form.

Loki glanced over his shoulder at Thor, mentally preparing himself for releasing his rage upon him and the nearby soldiers. "No, Nathaniel Grey. You are standing on my property. Get your hands off me, you brute, or I'll sue you!"

Thor looked angry, lifting his hammer. He had grown tired of Loki's games, running around and trying to find him. "I am not in a gaming mood, brother. Yield now! Do not force me to beat you out from that form!"

Loki was about to conjure his daggers when he heard a familiar voice drawing near.

"Hey! Leave my dad alone, you big bully!" Damien yelped, running at Loki like a small heaven-sent rascal, giving Thor a mean glare. "Come on, dad!" the boy continued, taking a hold of Loki's hand.

A second ago Loki would have been ready to unleash a hell upon them. He gave the boy a small puzzled smile and glanced at his dumbfound brother, and then at Emma, who nodded her head as if begging him to go with the boy. He didn't want to leave her, but he didn't want to start a fight in front of the boy either. Emma had made her mind clear about not wanting anymore bloodshed. He only wished it wouldn't be her blood that was about to shed, if he would simply walk away.

He was boiling with anger inside, but like the old days he didn't let it show. He had a plan to save her already cooking up in his mind; he would create a distraction, take the form of the leading agent and walk into the jet to her and they would fly away together again.

There had been only a few of those times Thor had felt himself making a mistake. That felt like one of those times, as he released his grip from the man's shoulder, staring down at the young boy by his side. "My... um… apologies," the god of thunder stammered, puzzled, and took an embarrassed step back, putting his hammer down. He had been so damn certain of it that it was Loki that he could have bet his hammer for it.

"Let's go, son," Loki said to the boy and they left Thor and the agents continuing their search.

Emma watched them walking away from her sight, a part of her glad that he hadn't gotten caught, another part of her selfishly wishing that he would have given up. Then again, she feared it wasn't an option. The S.H.I.E.L.D. would have probably killed him, and she didn't want that. She squeezed the doll in her arms, scenting Loki's odor from the stuffed smurf. Last night had been the best time of her life. She was never going to forget it or him. Maybe she wouldn't have too much time left to cherish the memory of it anyway.

Natasha Romanoff slipped out a few curse words in Russia and pushed the closing button of the rear hatch to close it a bit as a cover but not completely. Then she pulled out her pistol, turning back at Emma, and attaching a muffler to her gun that she picked up from her pocket. "Do I have to do everything by myself?" she grunted, moving to her prisoner, hunching down at her, and pulling from Emma's hair. If the mad deity was somewhere out there, she would lure him out. "I heard you heal fast. That's beautiful. But I promise, this is going to hurt a lot!" she said, pushing her pistol's barrel against Emma's bare thigh right above the knee.

Emma grimaced in pain at the woman's tight grip on her hair, looking at the red-head in a fright. "Are you crazy? You must really hate my kinds."

"I have nothing against mutants, but I don't like people who hurt my friends. When your boyfriend hears you screaming in pain, he comes for you, and that's when we'll catch him. Clint told me that you are his weak spot," Natasha said, squeezing a little of the trigger, hoping that Emma would scream before she gets to the part actually pulling the trigger._ It was refreshing being on the other side of the gun's pipe for once._

Emma braced herself for the pain, unwilling to give up the fight. She was not going to be Loki's doom. "You crazy bitch, he's not here!" Emma grunted, taming her voice down. The best way to lie was to tell a bit of the truth. She had learned that a long ago. "I hoped he would have been here, but now I know he's not. Loki is gone! He dumped me, after he got what he wanted. I tried to fight, I really did, but he messed up my mind. I keep seeing him in every person I look at..."

Natasha frowned. She was an expert of what came to lying and acting vulnerable. That could have been just an act. "Then where is he?"

Emma did her best to sound hurt and betrayed, and giving up. "London. If you want to find him," she closed her eyes, "try Buckingham palace. He said he wants the throne..." Even Emma was surprised of the short scheme she had come up with. _Loki would have loved it._ She met the female agent's doubtful gaze, the barrel of the gun still against her knee. "Pull the trigger, you bitch, if you don't believe me! Why do you think he came in England in the first place?"

**… …**

When Agent Coulson was marching into the jet, Natasha met him in he opening of the rear hatch looking uneasy. "We might have a bit of a problem, sir!"

Agent Coulson took a look at the both of the women questioningly. "What is it?"

"If it is true what she just told me, our boy Loki is about to take over the throne of England acting as the queen. He is in London as we speak. She told me that his plan is to subject all the old colonies back under the rule of the crown, and then declare a war to everyone else."

Coulson wiped his forehead looking agonized. "Oh, no way in hell!" he sighed, walking in front of the young woman in handcuffs, gazing at her. "Is this true, Ms. Morgan?"

Emma stared back at the agents. "He said he wants the whole world to kneel before him. Who knows, maybe he was just joking. That's the way he is."

"I need to make a phone call. Fury is going to love this!" Coulson snorted, feeling the sweat rising on his forehead.

Watching at Thor and Emma over his shoulder as he was walking with the boy, Loki was ready put his plan into action. But then the soldiers were pulling back, rushing to their jets and cars like they would have been ordered to move out. Also Thor and Ironman hurried to the jets. And before Loki made another move, the jet where Emma was, was already airborne, the hatch closing up, Loki catching the last sight of her.

"No, no, no, no," Loki whispered following the jet with his gaze as it rose fast up in the air, a knot in his stomach tightening with worry. "No!"

He was furious, to himself mostly, for doing nothing to save her. _Why hadn't he killed them all? Why had he let them caught her?_ His mind clouded and his expression hardened as he stared at the distancing aircraft, feeling suddenly so very helpless, his already unstable state of mind not asking for this disturbance. He couldn't understand why he felt like this. She was just a mortal he had known only a few days. He could have always found another pet. She had been a distraction from the very beginning. He had not been looking for a companionship, but now he felt that he needed her back, by any means. It was as if she had taken a part of him with her and he couldn't go on without that missing piece. _Why had he let her to reason with him in the first place? Why had he ever kissed her and cursed himself with this sentimental madness?_

A small group of the agents remained on the site, cleaning up the mess, guiding the hotel guests, and keeping the situation under control. Loki overheard a conversation of a couple of them as they walked pass him:

"Where are they going? Did they find the guy?"

"No. The woman told that he's already in London, taking over the throne of England."

"What the hell?"

"Apparently the loony wants to become the queen instead of the queen, taking back the old colonial possessions and starting the World War Three."

"Christ!"

"I wouldn't want to be in Coulson's shoes right now."

Loki frowned. _Damn! It seemed she had come up with a perfect plan for him to take over the world and hadn't bothered to tell him about it._ _That conniving, little, sweet, beautiful creature!_ She had sent them to a wild goose chase buying him some time to scheme up his own plans. The trickster in him was proud of her. He definitely wanted her back. And he was going to get her back, somehow.

Damien pulled from Loki's hand, staring up at him while they were still standing on the yard. "Where are they taking her?" he asked whispering.

It was only then when Loki remembered again that the boy was there with him. "I do not know," Loki whispered back at him, watching as the jets were disappearing out of their sights.

"Are we going to save her?"

"We?" Loki asked glancing down at the young one.

"I can help. Just tell me what I can do."

Loki already had something in mind. "At first we make another video."

"Those evil people took my phone and laptop. We need to go home to borrow my sister's"

The old lady Grey stormed out through the entrance looking for her grandson, being beside of herself with worry about the bustle around them. "Oh, Damien, there you are, darling? Where have you been? You've got me so worried..." the old lady said, but then froze as she saw Loki standing with the boy looking like her dead son.

Loki gave the lady a small smile. "Hello, mother. I came for my boy."

"No!" the lady Grey cried out, wailing like a sick cat. "Don't take him, Nathaniel!" she stammered, horrid.

Loki glanced down at the boy confused. "What is wrong with her?"

"Oh? Oh, I forgot to tell you that my dad is actually," the boy swallowed with a sad face, "dead."

"So, you forgot to mention? Just happened to slip off your mind, hm?" Loki rolled his eyes and turned back at the old lady, understanding why the boy had been so keen being with him. That was one more thing they had in common, both fatherless sons. "I am sorry for your loss, Mrs. Grey. But we must leave. It would be unwise to tell anyone you have seen me," he continued, placing his hands on the boy's shoulders.

"You are an imposter! What do you want? Money? How… how much?"

"It's alright, Nana. I'm going to help him."

"The boy will be returned to you safe and sound if you do as you are told, my dear lady Grey. You have my word." Loki glanced around him; there were no agents in sight. "You may tell the agents about me after two hours have passed. But only then, otherwise," he said menacingly, glancing down at the boy. Then he and the boy both vanished before the lady's eyes, leaving her utterly confused and worried.

"No! Damien!"


	15. 15 Disillusioning

Loki knew he could have chosen a less conspicuous means of transportation but he had taken what was on hands, borrowing the Greys's horses with Damien as the boy had been very eager to help him. They took the shortest road to the near by town where the boy lived, riding through the fields and over the great hills and vales, crossing highways and causing a small chaos in the traffic. They rode like a pair of true equestrians, spurring their horses jumping over stony walls and small creeks, enjoying the wild riding in the nature. It had taken only half an hour when they finally arrived in front of a handsome old Victorian house alongside by one of the main roads of the town of Stafford. Their arrival aroused curiosity among the people passing by but they didn't let it bother as Damien and Loki dismounted and tied up their horses on to the black wrought iron fence like they would have done that everyday.

"Ouch! My bum is sore but it was worth it. We have to do that again, Loki! That was brilliant!" Damien said enthusiastically to the god of mischief, padding his horse fondly before leaving it. "I will bring you a couple of apples, girl."

"Indeed. I haven't had that much fun riding in a long time," Loki admitted and followed the boy, letting his gaze wander on the walls of the old, charming house. "Is there anyone home?" he asked a bit concerned for possible encounter with the rest of the boy's family. He didn't want to go intimidating the whole bunch. The old lady Grey had been left horrid enough.

"My sister might be, if she hasn't gone for shopping. But don't mind about her," Damien said and ran up a few stairs to the door, picking up his keys from his back bag. "Now you can meet Phantom, and I can show you the rest of my stuff," Damien told as he opened the dark wooden door and rushed inside and straight to upstairs.

Amused by the boy's enthusiasm Loki walked in and closed the door behind him, taking a short look at the small entrance hall he had entered, taking his time studying the apartment and some family photos on the walls while making his way towards the stairs. His thoughts had kept circling around in his mind and everytime they had returned to Emma and his time spent with her. He needed to find her. He needed to save her.

"Damien, I'm so going to kill you! You weren't supposed to come home today!" a teenage girl shrieked as she hurried into the entrance hall from the living room and nearly stumbled onto Loki.

He turned fast towards her and when she saw the tall, dark stranger standing in front of her instead of her little brother, she froze with a gasp, staring at him in fright. "W-who are you? How did you get in?" she stammered. The man was very tall, dressed strangely in black and green clothes with golden details and a long green cape like he would have been on his way into some comic-con. He didn't look like one who would have come to rob the place, though.

Loki had been prepared to pull out his daggers, but luckily hadn't done that. Calmness filled his emerald eyes as he beheld the girl, trying his best to act friendly. The girl had dark-brown hair and brown eyes, and she wore a white lace shirt and blue jeans. She was sixteen but her make-up made her looking a bit older. _This must have been the boy's sister_, Loki thought and he wished not to alarm her. "Please, do not be afraid. I am a friend of Damien. I came here with him. You must be his sister? He has told me a great deal about you."

The girl would have called for her mother for help if she would have been home, but instead she reached out for the second best choice. "Terry!" she cried out for her boyfriend, worry in her voice, the gaze of her brown eyes stuck on Loki, a small frown rising on her forehead. "W-what kind of friend of Damien?" she asked suspiciously.

"Come on, Loki! I found the camera," Damien shouted, running back at the stairs, carrying a pocket-size digital camera with him. Then he noticed his sister downstairs with Loki. "Oh, hi, Kate. You're home. So, you met Loki? Isn't he great? He is a magician and he's my new best friend," the boy explained proudly, and Loki cast his gaze on Damien. "We won't bother you. We will be in my room," Damien promised and waved his hand at Loki to come with him. "Can I borrow you laptop, Kate? We've got some stuff to do."

Awkwardly and slightly upset Loki could only imagine what the girl was thinking of him at that moment, the thought of how the situation might have looked like occurring to him as well. He clasped his palms together slowly, conjuring a reluctant smile on his face. "I am sorry. I did not introduce myself. I am Loki Odinson…"

Greatly disagreeing with the idea of his brother spending time alone with a strange adult man, Kate shook her head and went to Damien up the stairs, glancing doubtfully at the stranger in their home. "Damien, you know what mother has told you about not get in the cars of strangers! Where did you meet him?" the big sister asked in a quiet voice, troubled.

Damien looked up at his sister with innocent eyes. "Loki is not a stranger. I met him at Nana's and Grand papa's place. Besides, we didn't get here with a car. We rode with horses. Didn't we, Loki?"

"You did what?"

"Um… yes, we rode here," Loki nodded, getting the feeling that he never should have gotten there with the boy in the first place. He should have been searching for Emma on his own and forgotten the videos he had been planning to make with the boy. But there had been something Emma had told him yesterday that didn't leave him in peace; that ruling this realm was nearly the same thing than entertaining it. So, there would have been no harm done by giving it a try. But mostly he would have wanted to send a message to the S.H.I.E.L.D that capturing Emma didn't change anything, that they had no reason to hold her imprisoned.

"Look, I don't know who you are, but you're better leave or I am going to call the police," Kate told timidly to their unexpected houseguest, her hand on her little brother's shoulder. "And, stay away from my brother!"

_Maybe it was easier to go on his own_, Loki thought. "Fair enough. I will take my leave now," he said taking a step back. He was going for the plan B. "Farewell, my young friend."

"No! You can't go! You haven't even seen Phantom yet!" Damien protested and ran down the stairs to Loki, despite Kate's attempt to stop him, and hugged the trickster god.

Loki was unaccustomed of expressing and receiving these feelings so openly and the hug from the young one felt more awkward than welcomed. And when he lifted his puzzled gaze up from the boy, he noticed an odd-looking young man with pale skin and a lip-piercing staring straight at him in awe.

Terry, Kate's 18 years old boyfriend, stood in the living room's doorway, his black/electric-blue hair sticking up like spikes of a hedgehog. "Wow! I know you, mate! You're Loki of Asgard!" Terry exclaimed, watching at the god of mischief gaping in bewilderment.

Pleased but a bit confused that he was known to the young man, Loki gave him a nod. "I am," he admitted simply, pondering what was it that the youngster wanted to express with such a strange appearance.

"It is really an honor to meet you, Mr. Odinson," Terry said and offered his hand for a handshake.

Loki hadn't heard those words spoken to him before and hearing them now made him smiling curiously. "Please, I would prefer to be called Loki," he said, wishing to drop the 'son of Odin' –part, shaking the young man's hand. But modesty had never been his virtue. "Or, you can simply call me _your king_," he added with deeper voice, his dimples growing on his cheeks.

"Great, king Loki!"

Damien gave a wild grin at Terry while turning at him. "Hi, Terry! So, you saw the video?"

"Hey, little mate! Oh, did I? The whole school has seen it. That was brilliant! Everybody loved it," Terry explained in an excited voice and gave Damien a fist bump, they both doing the exploding part in the end that made Damien giggling. Then Terry turned at Kate who came down the stairs. "Why didn't you tell me that the illusions master Loki Odinson was coming here? An awesome idea, though! It would make a killer party if he could show a few tricks."

Kate kept an eye on the tall, dark stranger, moving closer to her boyfriend and brother. "You know him?" Kate asked cautiously, feeling the whole situation getting just weirder, finding her own ignorance about the matter annoying.

"Oh, well yeah! He is like a god of illusions! Don't you ever watch your brother's Youtube channel?"

"Yeah?" Damien grunted giving his sister a questioning look.

A bit confused Loki just listened to the young ones talking. It seemed that people, he had never even heard about, already knew who he was, and Terry made it sound that they were appreciating his tricks.

"I'm still going to call my mother," Kate murmured.

"Yeah, a good idea. Are you going to tell her that we are throwing a party without her permission? And about me? The last time I saw your mom she told me to stay away from you, remember?" Terry asked and made Kate to stop in the living room's doorway.

Inwardly Loki's smile grew more, realizing that Emma had been right about his _show_ and Damien had been right about it that people had seen his performance from that odd net the boy had been telling him about. He truly needed to make name for himself and that seemed to be his tool for it. Instead of using an army to conquer them all, he would simply give them what they wanted and show a few tricks and they would worship him.

Loki laid his eyes at the girl with the most sincere look in his appealing gaze, giving a small bow of his head. "My dear young lady, I wish not to upset you with my presence. So, I shall leave you in peace as you asked. My intentions here, whatever you mistaken them to be, were completely innocent, I can assure you. And your brother is a fine young man. You have many reasons to be proud of him," Loki spoke softly to her, noticing from her eyes that his words sunk deep. Then he glanced at Damien with a smile before he turned around and left to the door.

He heard a quite aloud disapproving whisperings behind him as Damien and Terry were telling Kate to let the man stay.

"Alright then. Fine," Kate sighed, finding Loki's presence making her nervous; his gaze being too bold, his voice too smooth, his charisma too strong for a sixteen-years-old to handle. The man was clearly much older than she was, but she was forced to admit that she did like the way he looked; one more reason to feel nervous near him. "You can stay, Mr. Odinson," she said and murmured under her breathe that _her mother was going to kill her for this_.

"Yes!" Damien grinned.

Loki tried not to grin too much when he turned towards the young ones, doing his best to keep his face straight. "I do not want to be trouble."

"He won't, I promise," Damien said, excited. "Loki, can you do that snake trick now, please?"

The doorbell rang all of a sudden and for a moment Loki was worried that the S.H.I.E.L.D. had already gotten on his trail. But when Kate went opening it, her friends stormed in, they all pondering why there were horses in front of Kate's house. The girls cheerful chattering ended as they noticed Loki standing tall and mighty in the entrance hall. All the five new girls stared speechless at the god of mischief with the same astonished expression as Terry had just a moment ago, and Loki dropped his guard.

"Oh my god! It's Loki of Asgard!" one of the girls shrieked after recovering from the bewilderment and they gathered closer around him like they would have just met their idol.

"Hey, you all. Why don't you come in," Kate grunted, took a quick look at the horses outside, and closed the door, the attention of her friends captured by the strange in her home she had no idea who he was. It had been the first weekend in ages, her mother hadn't been home and she had spent the last night with Terry, not bothering really to watch the video link Damien had sent to her and Terry. Now she regretted it.

"Mr. Odinson, we saw your video!" "Your tricks were awesome." "Could you please show us your magic?" "Yeah, please."

The admiration given by the young people around Loki tickled his wounded self-esteem and made him revealing his grin. Never had he been idolized like this before, their open enthusiasm flattered his broken spirit, and he kind of liked it even the young girls' bold eagerness was a bit intimidating. _Emma had been so right about his show._

_So, this was it what Thor must have felt like his whole life._ When the living wall of aloud teenagers grew tighter surrounding him, Loki noticed Damien pulling away from the crowd in a silent submission giving his space to the others. Loki so knew that feeling being left in the giant shadows cast of his brother and father, being ignored by everyone else around him. With only one small step forward he took the whole space to himself, changing his outfits into a neat black suit, conjuring his appearance more approachable, the girls moving back a bit in awe.

"My friends… It seems that you already know me. And I am truly flattered of your kind attention, but I would not really be here without my very good _mate_, Damien," he said reaching his arm towards the boy, forcing the girls to give Damien his own place back.

Hesitatingly the boy moved next to him, looking up at him in surprise. "He is young yet but I am sure he is destined for greatness. So, you all better treat him fairly. He might even have a few tricks in his sleeve," Loki said with a smile and winked his eye at the boy, tapping his shoulder.

Damien felt something tickling his left arm and he pulled out a long black serpent from his sleeve, his expression turning wild with excitement. "Wow! Yees!"

But most of the girls ran into the living room screaming after seeing the snake. And Damien and Loki exchanged mischievous grins.

"Now, that was wicked!" Terry said sharing the little boy's enthusiasm.

Kate wasn't so excited about them driving her friends out in a fright and she gave a sullen look at the charming magician. "You're as bad as my brother!" she said in a grumpy way. "I want that serpent out of my sight or I will flush Phantom down the toilet!"

"I am awfully sorry. I meant not to frighten any of you," Loki said with an apologetic smirk. "Damien and I have some work to do but we will return to you shortly and I will entertain your friends with my… more refined magic tricks. You have my word."

"Hey, can I come too?" Terry asked, and Kate thought that was great idea for having someone keeping an eye on her brother and Loki.

"Terry is a wizard making videos. He could help us," Damien told.

More than pleased Loki accepted all the help he could get, lifting his gaze at the young ones with a prominent promise of grand destiny gleaming in his eyes. "Good. Today we will not just create illusions. We will be making living history. When some do battle, others will just take the world."

"Brilliant, mate! Count me in!" Terry said, excited. "I really loved your show. And when you said that our world needs saving, I think you're absolutely right."

"You think so?" Loki asked curiously walking with the boys up the stairs.

"Yeah. Let me tell you, there are a lot wrong in this world. Hey, have you considered adding some green ideas to your performances? I mean like environmental things and stuff like that?"

"No, but please tell me more. Green is always good," Loki grinned.

**… …**

After two long hours Emma still sat in the Quinjet that was landed in front of the royal palace of Buckingham, in London. Her fingers crossed she was begging for forgiveness for the stunt she had pulled. She had never meant it to go on that far.

The red-head female agent and a couple of male ones in heavy combat outfits were babysitting her, none of them saying a word to her, making her feel an unwanted guest. Her thoughts were with Loki, wishing he was alright and not doing anything stupid without her. She snapped out from her thoughts as the rear hatch opened and the team of S.H.I.E.L.D agents, including Thor and Ironman marched back in, casting mean glares at her.

Thor seemed to be the only one in a jovial mood. "Well, I think she was a nice old lady. Very kind of her to offer us tea after the misunderstanding was unraveled," the god of thunder said, being grateful that he hadn't smashed his hammer in the queen's face.

Emma held her breath when agent Coulson sat opposite her on the bench, lifting his eyes at her. "Ms. Morgan," he sighed, annoyed, "is there any chance, even a small one, you could have been mistaken?" he asked her sounding surprisingly calm for a man who had been fooled to go threatening Her Majesty, the queen of Great Britain.

Even she was troubled Emma fought hard not to burst out laughing, imagining how the things had been in the palace a while ago. "There is always that possibility. I take it he wasn't there?" she asked cautiously.

Coulson shook his head, controlling his grave upset. They had almost killed the queen. Thankfully she had been a very understanding lady in a time of great distress. "Do you think this is funny, Ms. Morgan?"

A small smile visited Emma's lips and she shook it off. "A bit, yeah. Sorry!"

"I just got a call from one of our agents that Nathaniel Grey kidnapped his son from the Grey's manor."

That got Emma more worried. "Damien? Oh no..."

"I actually talked with the man myself. What I found odd about that is that Nathaniel Grey has been dead for two years but he looked pretty fresh to me. You knew Loki was there, didn't you? You saw him? You send us to a wild goose chase, Ms. Morgan. What happens to that boy now is your fault! Do you still think it is funny?"

Thor had gotten his own share of Coulson's strict interrogations a few days ago in New Mexico and he felt sorry for the young woman. So he walked to Coulson, knowing that she was not been blamed alone; she had gotten in her situation because of Loki. "I knew that man was my brother but the boy with him had me fooled." Thor turned at Emma then, his ocean blue eyes looking down at her. "If you know, then tell me, what is he planning? We could save the boy!"

"Loki wouldn't hurt Damien. He's not a monster!" Emma defended him, unbuckling her seatbelts and getting up on her feet, staring up into Thor's eyes. "You keep calling him your brother, but here you are helping these people who only want to kill him!"

"That is not true," Coulson hurried to assure to the god of thunder. "We are only trying to restrain him. He's making that a bit difficult!"

Natasha stood close to the cockpit her arms crossed her over her chest, glaring at Emma. "Loki has killed 18 people and injured 3 in three days. That doesn't count anything to you?"

"It was self-defense! Your people opened fire at him first."

Thor gave a sour glance at the people around him and then returned his gaze at the small defiant woman in front of him. "I am helping them to catch Loki. Then I will take him back to Asgard facing justice." He felt like he was repeating himself over and over again.

Emma was getting angry at the Asgardian deity. "For what? So you can toss him again into a collapsing wormhole hoping him to die this time?"

"What? No, that is not what happened."

"He told me everything about you." Emma turned at the agents, pointing at Thor with cuffed hands. "You're better watch out this guy. He's mad and he was banished from his own realm for starting a war. He has a bad attitude and he likes to break up stuff, like bridges to the other worlds and aircrafts while people are in them! I could have died up in the air because of him!"

"Well… I am sorry about that," Thor said but was bemused listening to her. "Loki has always been a talented liar and you would not been the first one he had fooled. I do not know what he has told you, but he tried to destroy a whole race while his was sitting on the throne of Asgard. I did all in my powers to stop his schemes."

Emma looked serious, unsure would she believe that. "Um… maybe he had his reasons…"

Thor frowned. "The Jotuns may not see it that way. Their realm could have been completely destroyed because of him."

"Jotuns?"

"Yes, he tried to annihilate the whole realm of Jotunheim and the Frost Giants with it. Loki has always been on the side of mischief, causing trouble to others, but now he simply went too far. My father, Odin, send me here to bring Loki back."

Emma fell silence and sat back down, taken aback of that information. Loki had told her he had killed his biological father but could he have been able to destroy his own entire race. She didn't know who to believe. _How little did she know of him?_

Coulson rubbed more salt into her wounds, telling the facts. "Scott Davis is dead. He died in blood lost a few hours later after you left him lying wounded on the ice. Now, I don't about you, but I wouldn't be defending a killer so eagerly if I'd be you."

Emma closed her eyes with a long sigh. She had so completely forgotten Scott, and Peter, and everything else for that matter.

"Sir, you should see this!" one of the agents with a laptop shouted at his boss.

"What is it?"

"A new video from Loki was just posted into that Phantom Channel in Youtube!" The agent said and put it rolling on a big screen.

In the video the illusion master performed in an assertive way, showing some of his new tricks and talking like he would have already owned the world. His act was more polished, impressive and appealing than in the last time. And for everybody's surprise he was talking about saving the planet together, his willingness to fight against the global warming, hunger and wars, encouraging everyone join his 'Green Mission' like he would have turned into some eager eco-warrior. The video lasted five minutes and his last words were meant to his chasers: "And to my friends in the S.H.I.E.L.D. I say," he begun, revealing his mighty grin, but continued his talk with some strange, unheard language.

"Get me someone from the linguistics here," agent Coulson ordered.

While listening to his brother's recorded talk Thor glanced at Emma with a sorry look. "That is the language of the Light Elves," he told.

Agent Coulson turned at Thor. "You know what he is saying?"

"Yes. He must have assumed that I am with you interpreting the message."

"Well, I want to hear it, word to word."

"Word to word?" Thor hesitated.

"Yes."

"Right now?"

"Yes!"

Thor swallowed, giving another worried glance at Emma. "He put it out something like this…" he begun and continued with a quieter voice. "_So, you caught my pet? You can keep that lost creature. I have no further need for her. I have already found other ones. Since you might have been informed about my little schemes in England I decided to change my mind about those. Why would you not all kneel before me and I will save your realm!"_

Coulson frowned. "That's what he said?"

"That was it."

The video had ended with an image of a golden horned helmet on a green background and a text 'Loki's Challenge'.

Natasha and the men turned at Emma with a pitying expression like she would have been the saddest creature on earth. And Emma did her best to swallow her frustration, after hearing Loki's disillusioning words spoken by his brother. _A lost creature, huh? She didn't hear him complaining last night!_

"Wow! And I thought I was being mean to you. He just dumped you in front of the whole world," Natasha said, looking down at Emma, and went on the pilot's seat.

Emma dropped her gaze down, mortified. _Yeah, that's what it looked like._

Coulson buckled up his seatbelts when they were getting airborne again. "So, Loki was after the throne like you told us, but changed his mind when he saw we caught you, knowing you might tell us," the agent reached to a conclusion.

Puzzled Emma looked at the agent, wondering how Loki had known about her mad idea she had pulled out of nowhere and how on earth he had made that video. _Was it really that little he thought of her? And why were her hands suddenly starting to feel so cold and aching?_

**... …**

Loki's time with the young ones was successful. After giving them a magic show of a lifetime, they were all willing to aid him, promising to share his videos in the net and publicize him everywhere. He bid goodbyes to Damien and asked the boy to send a message to his grandmother that he was alright. The boy let Loki borrow a horse once more when he told that he had to go looking for Emma. He knew he could have continued to carry on his plans on his own with the world domination (it strongly seemed that the humanity welcomed him with his tricks as an idol) but he simply wanted Emma back. He found it irrational but his thoughts had never left her.

Selecting his spot carefully, Loki rode a half way back to a green hill and dismounted, letting his horse go free. There he dropped all his mental guards and sat on the green grass under the wide blue sky, letting his presence to be revealed and summoned his brother telepathically, approaching Thor with a projection of himself only briefly. It surely surprised the god of thunder who was back at the Grey's manor when Loki emerged in front of him.

_"__Thor, we must speak. You will find me now. But I will speak with you and you alone,"_ Loki said to his brother and then he was gone.

After that Loki waited, wishing he would not be late for Emma's sake. He could sense her, though, from far away when he concentrated hard. She was still alive, that much he knew.

It took a bit more than quarter of an hour when Thor finally arrived, flying there with his hammer and landing on the hill, not far from his mischievous brother.

Loki had been immersed into his thoughts, staring far ahead over the hills and vales to west. When he sensed Thor arriving he turned and walked to him slowly. "Thor," he greeted his brother, not so brotherly.

"Loki," Thor answered back and quickly glanced at the saddled horse eating grass further away. "Where did you get a horse?" he asked, pondering how Loki had gotten one since he hadn't had any luck finding a mount in New Mexico.

"You are not the only one having friends here," Loki smirked grimly.

"So, are you willing to give up, brother?"

Loki snorted like that would have been a poor joke. "Never. But I did not ask you here to fight," he promised.

"Then why did you?"

Loki gave him a sad smile, taking a few steps closer. "Because I might be just that desperate to need your help. Before you say anything, I remind you of all those times I stood by your side, defended you and fought for you. I even marched into Jotunheim with you."

Thor looked grumpy. "And I have grown tired with your games, brother. I will take you back to Asgard even I would have to drag you up there. What do you want?"

Loki moved closer to the god of thunder, placing his trust on the man who once was his brother, a short hesitation sweeping across his face. "Emma Morgan," he said that name with a gentle voice, looking into Thor's eyes. "You know where they keep her. All I am asking is your help for saving her. Then I _might_ consider coming back home."

"She is safe. Son of Coul promised me they will not harm her."

"Well, I doubt that," Loki frowned, annoyed that Thor hadn't even given a shred of hope of helping him. He was even a bit surprised.

"What about the boy you took?"

Loki chuckled softly thinking about Damien. _He should really adopt that child._ "Adorable, wasn't he? Reminds me of… me as a child. The boy is home. Safe."

Thor watched at his brother angrily. "Is this all merely a game to you, brother?"

"No, but I like this. It must burns you that for once in your life everything does not circle around you," Loki said in a scornful manner.

"I am changed from what I used to be."

"That is what you keep saying. But perhaps it was too much for me to assume that you would help me."

Thor took a breath. "That woman, what is she to you?"

Loki gave him a short dreaming smile. "We had a bit of fun together," he admitted. "No, lots of fun actually."

"So, she is nothing more than your plaything? I think she wants nothing to do with you. She heard your message. You do understand that her whole life is at stake here!"

Loki frowned and his eyes darkened. "If her life is at risk, it is not because of me, but because of your newfound friends she has been hiding from for years. You have no moral higher ground to judge me, when you are fraternizing with liars and killers. They hunts down, tortures and kills her kinds for sport," he said in a headed tone. He was quiet for a moment, stepping closer to his brother, considering his next words carefully. He hated to ask it. He hated to beg after all the fights they had gone through. His voice turned softer, so did his eyes. "Do not think I would approach you lightly in this matter. I am not asking this for me, but for her sake. I would have not asked you if there would have been another way. Brother, will you help me or not?"

After his words Thor lowered his head looking miserably regretful. "I am sorry, Loki."

The sound of the Quinjets filled the air as the aircrafts circled around them and Ironman landed next to them, pulling out his weapon arsenal. Loki glanced around him, finding himself been surrounded, outnumbered and betrayed. He snorted and gave a small disappointed smile. "Well played, son of Odin. It was unwise of me to believe you would help after all I have done. But this once, I honestly thought that you of all people would have understood."

"You left me with no other choice."

With a small gesture Loki lifted his hands up, yielding. He turned at his brother, his brows curving down in a sad look. "Hm… At least now we know where we stand, brother," he spitted the 'brother'-part with a mocking tone. "You better be careful, or they might catch your precious Jane too."

Thor frowned, hoping that was not true, and grabbed a hold of Loki's arm, escorting him into one of the landed jets. The god of thunder pondered had his brother really been looking for his help to save the woman. He had sounded sincere, and it stung his heart to set Loki up.


	16. 16 Bargaining

The Helicarrier flew somewhere over the Atlantic Ocean, heading back to the States. Agent Coulson entered into an interrogation room, carrying a plastic cup of hot chocolate and a pile of cheese sandwiches on a plate that he placed on the table in front of Emma.

"Go ahead. You missed you breakfast and lunch," he said to Emma and gave a nod to the guard, who had been watching over her, to leave them. When the door closed after the guard, Coulson sat at the other side of the table and opened a dark-blue file he had been carrying under his arm.

Emma glowered at him and lifted her cuffed hands on the table. "Thanks," she murmured, hesitating, but dug in because she was starving. If they were going to kill her they wouldn't do it by poisoning her food, she reasoned. She took a big gulp from the cup. The cocoa wasn't very warm and she glanced at the agent. "You call this a hot chocolate? This isn't hot! This isn't even warm. Babies wouldn't take a bath in this!"

"It's a precaution," agent Coulson informed. He had no desire of getting hot drinks thrown at him.

Emma took a bite from a sandwich, glaring at the agent under her eye brows. She didn't like this. The unawareness of the things to come was making her more than nervous. She was wearing a dark, long sleeve jumpsuit they had given her and a pair of sneakers, it felt like a prison outfit, but was a bit nicer than the little black dress that she had been wearing while arriving there.

Phil Coulson watched at her calmly, nearly compassionately, his arms on the table and fingers crossed over his opened file. "At first, would you like to tell me what happened with Loki from the beginning?"

Emma shook her head. "No, not really."

"Would you prefer to talk with a female agent?"

"Like that psycho bitch who nearly blew up my knee? No thanks!" Emma sneered, getting uncomfortable talking with him already. She was thinking that she might have gotten more sympathies if she would have given the impression that Loki had treated her like a cruel monster. But that wouldn't have been fair for him. "He didn't rape me, if that's what worries you," she explained, embarrassed.

Coulson nodded and took a while going through her file before he lifted his eyes at her. "You have a colorful history, Ms. Morgan. Or, should I call you Ms. Morrison?"

"I'd like to keep my past in the past, if you don't mind, Mr. Agentman."

"You have gone through a lot. I assume the troubles started when your special powers broke the surface."

Emma looked at the agent bleakly. "No, troubles started when men in black suits came and took me away. Men like you. I was a kid back then. Do you have any idea what it feels like been caged like an animal, not seeing the sun in two months? To be constantly tortured without a reason?"

"I'm sorry for what they've done to you, but I assure our organization had nothing to do with that. We are the S.H.I.E.L.D."

Emma snorted and lifted her hands that were still chained in handcuffs, chewing her mouth empty. "Great! Then maybe you can remove these and we can start talking like civilized people."

"Sorry, can't do that." Coulson glanced at his papers. "So, Minneapolis, Detroit, Philadelphia, Newark, Houston and wilderness of Greenland. You don't stay too long in one place. We have been following you for almost 7 years. Ever since we discovered and exterminated the Hydra's research facilities where they held you and many other mutants for their experiments. You seemed to be the only one who ever managed to escape from there."

Frowning Emma stared at the agent, fighting back those unwanted memories. _Hydra!_ That's what it had been. She would have so wanted to forget about it all. That word sent chills through her spine with the images from her past, the cruel tests and the faces of the people who treated her like she'd been an animal.

She said nothing, just took another bite from her sandwich, knowing that soon she wouldn't have any appetite left, if he would continued with that subject. _Was this S.H.I.E.L.D. the new Hydra now?_

Coulson could tell by her expression that he had reminded her about some bad things of her past, and he realized that she had met some really bad people back then. It might have been very hard to gain her trust. "Are you alright, Ms. Morgan? Let me assure you that those people who hurt you then are long gone or locked away for good."

Emma shook her head. "You don't get it, do you? You don't simply exterminate Hydra or anything that has their stamp on it," she said in a quiet voice, dropping her gaze down. "_Cut off one head and two more shall take its place…"_ she murmured, recalling that devilish mantra those people had been repeating to her.

Coulson gave her a moment to gather herself. It seemed she needed that. "How was Greenland?"

Emma frowned. "Peachy."

"Yes, we took note that the harsh environment didn't bother you. Your social skills have much improved. And you are well adapting to your situations, and I'm not talking about your mutation. You are a fast learner." Coulson glanced at her and she looked confused and a bit angry. "The Greenland's NASA research center was one of our own test units, designed to see how our possible candidates works under pressure. You were constantly evaluated, and you did pretty well, until Loki showed up."

"Candidates for what?"

"We need specialists from all fields of expertise, from scientist to field agents, from nerds to guards. Some individuals are harder to approach than others. That's why we have more subtle approach for individuals like you."

Emma took a breath, held it and let out slowly, controlling her rising anger. Finally everything was becoming clear to her. She put down the scraps of the sandwich and tossed the plate further away. "So, everything was just a big lie? Was anything real in there? Peter? Hans? Our job?" She looked at him grimly. "Loki?"

"Agent Davis was one of our oldest field agents. And agent Lawson is our specialist of psychology; she gave us your monthly evaluations. The others were candidates like you. Your work there was all real, providing us and NASA real useful information. And what comes to Loki, I assure he is very much real. A real threat to international security. We don't know why he ended up there in the middle of Greenland's glaciers or what he's planning, but we do all we can to stop him."

"Everything is making perfect sense now. I thought that I was lucky to been recruited into a NASA project out from the streets. But you already knew who I was. And, no wonder why the girl talks with Catherine were so weird." Emma let out a dry laugh. She had spent another four months of her life happily unaware that she had been locked up in another cage the whole time. "The funny part of this is that, I actually liked being there, away from people. I thought I was hiding from people like you."

"Ms. Morgan, we are the good guys here."

She showed him her chained hands again. "Still doesn't feel like that!" She swallowed, feeling uneasy. She was not going to help them catching Loki. "Why am I here?"

"You have a gift and we would hate to see it go waste. We are offering you a chance to become a part of something significant, something that matters in a bigger picture."

Emma snorted, bemused. "You want me to work for you? No way in hell!"

"I'm trying to help you out here. Your mutant abilities are unique as they are. Your mutation is… it is like a virus, helping you adapting to your environments. I believe that's why the Hydra was also interested in you." Coulson glanced down at his papers turning a sheet. "However the tests that we took from your blood you left on the ice, after you were shot, showed that you exposed to minor doze of gamma-radiation and some other unknown substances in your encounter with Loki. And since you spent a quite lot time with him… in your case we don't know how things will work out for you."

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"What I'm trying to say is that with your current state and your close connection to Loki makes you a threat, in which we are forced to react," Coulson said watching at her with a serious face. "You worked well in Greenland and impressed our recruiters. You managed to get along with an alien on a glacier. You aided two of my men back there which I'm more than grateful. The archer and the pilot are still alive thanks to you. You fooled us to go creating a major international conflict with the crown of England. I admit not one of my finest moments." Coulson frowned a bit to that. "And you piloted a Quinjet without training better than some of my colleagues. Needless to say but you impressed some of us. Now, I really would like to see you joining us, Ms. Morgan. That's what Greenland was all about."

Emma had listened to him in silence. It sounded like they knew more about her than she did. _And if she wouldn't join them, would they kill her?_ She felt a cold wave going through her hands all they way from forearms to her knuckles and she clenched her fists a couple of times to get the blood running. It was an odd, painful sensation as though she would have shoved her arms into a freezer and it seemed to get worst the more she worried. _What the hell was happening to her? Was it because of the handcuffs? Had she spent too much time in the glacier of Greenland that it was starting to take its toll retroactively?_ She just wanted Loki. She just wanted to be in his safe arms once more no matter what that Trickster said. She could have punched him in the face later.

"I'm not going to help you catching Loki if that's what this is about," she informed bleakly and leaned back, rubbing her aching knuckles and her forearms.

Coulson glanced through the windows to the long corridor alongside by the interrogation and research rooms. He noticed the soldiers marching through the hallway with their new prisoner. "That's alright. We just caught him," the agent said calmly as if just letting her know.

"What?" Emma turned at the windows, puzzled, and saw the group of soldiers and in the middle of them walked Loki much taller than any of them.

She stood up to see him better. It was really him in his Asgardian clothing, and she felt her chest tightening with concern. He gazed at her through the windows, giving her a small smile as he walked by like he would have been glad to been caught or then he was just glad to see her. She melted in his gaze and a tear fell down on her cheek. They held an eye contact as long as he walked out of her sight been escorted by the soldiers and Thor.

Emma slumped back on her seat and sat in silence a long while, fearing for both of their sake. It felt like it was all over, like everything would have been coming to an end. She refused to believe that h_e_ would have been that stupid to been caught so soon. _Did he have a trick in his sleeve?_

"Excuse me. I'll be right back," agent Coulson said and left, but she heard none of it being immersed deep into her troubled thoughts.

**... ...**

Loki stepped inside a round glass structure that apparently served as his prison cell, glancing around him curiously, as the soldiers that had escorted him there left and the massive door of the cell closed. The captured trickster god stared at his brother through the strong glass wall, not smiling this time. No, there were sad and betrayed looking in his green eyes and yet he was exuding cool defiance in a silent manner.

"Are you happy now, Thor?" Loki asked in a voice as cold as ice. "Are you enjoying of seeing me caged?"

"It was your own doings that brought you here!"

A sardonic smile twisted his thin lips. "My doings? Indeed, I asked your help as a brother, which I evidently am not, and you betrayed me. And for what? With the Bifrost gone, how were you planning to get us back home?" Loki asked scoffing, turning his gaze at the black-skinned man with an eye-patch who walked next to Thor.

"So, you finally caught him?" the man took note dryly, giving a short look at Loki. "I'm director Fury. I run this place. It is you I should to thank, Thor, for catching him."

"I am still here," Loki said with a smug tone, giving them a small smile. The man was talking like Loki wouldn't have been there at all. The trickster god took a few careless steps backwards, checking his new quarters like he was planning to settle in there. "It is an impressive cage. Not build, I think, for me?"

Without showing any emotions, Nick Fury beheld his prisoner. "No, it was build for someone more stronger than you."

Loki lifted his brows, glancing at his brother questioningly. "For him, perhaps?"

"No, a lot stronger than either of you."

Thor snorted and would have wanted to see such creature who was suppose to be stronger than him. "You are Fury?" Thor asked and shook hands with the man. "I'm Thor, son of Odin, prince of Asgard…"

"I know who you are. Agent Coulson told me everything about you."

"So, then you also must know that I will take my brother back home."

"I'm afraid he won't be going anywhere. If it's up to me, as it pretty much is, he can spend the rest of his days in his cell."

Loki let out a laugh, knocking on the wall lightly as though testing the hard material. "Oh, your prisons will fall before my last day would come."

Thor nodded. "Well, that is true. Asgardians lives about 5000 years."

Nick Fury glanced at Thor with his one eye like asking _are you fucking kidding me._ "Then we either keep building new prisons as long as it takes or figure out how to get rid off him, for good."

"Charming! Thor, where is your cage?"

Thor glowered at his brother, who crossed his arms giving him that _what did I tell you_ –look. "We know that you have an artifact called Tesseract. It belongs to Asgard. We want it back," the god of thunder said to Fury.

An interested gleam filled Loki's eyes, and he stepped closer to the wall, looking at the director Fury, already scheming up new plans. "You have the Tesseract?" he asked curiously in a quiet voice like tasting that word in his mouth for the first time. But he knew very well what it was. He had heard all Odin's stories about the Infinity Stones.

Fury frowned, shaking his head. "I don't know what you're talking about," he tried to lie.

"Of course you do. It is a glowing, blue cube, about this big," Thor said and showed it with his hands. "Odin, Allfather left it on Earth over millennia ago. It seems that it had brought you nothing but misfortune. Heimdall, our gatekeeper, has seen it in your possession. I will require it back and use it to take us to our own realm."

Nick Fury stared at the deities for a moment without blinking, thinking _who they hell they thought they were coming there giving orders_. "No!" That was all he said before he turned and walked at the stairs.

"No?" Thor asked, bemused.

Loki snorted with a hollow smile. "Were you truly expecting them to hand the Tesseract to you, if you would ask nicely? When have humans ever voluntarily given up any scraps of power they have gained?"

Agent Coulson stepped in to the peculiar prison room that included Loki's glass cell. The agent made his way to Thor and Fury. Before he got the chance to say anything, Thor approached him angrily like a child who had not gotten what he had wanted. "Son of Coul, Fury is not giving me the Tesseract as I demanded. Nor he let me take my brother to Asgard," Thor explained staring down at the agent.

Coulson glanced at Fury and then Thor. "I never promised you any of that. But perhaps we could come into some sort of an arrangement?" he suggested turning at Fury. The director shook his head.

Nick Fury had just gotten an order from the world security council for commencing new project in order to develop new kinds of weapons using the advanced alien technology. They were not going to give that into the hands of some Asgardians.

"What sort of an arrangement?" Thor asked.

"We'll think of something," Coulson said and watched then at their prisoner behind the strong glass wall, meeting with Fury. He had expected the god of mischief looking more threatening than that. _No wonder Ms. Morgan had fallen under his charm._ And for a moment Coulson thought that Loki looked a bit too comfortable for one being locked up.

"So, you have imprisoned me. Assumingly you will let Emma Morgan go free now?" Loki spoke with a dark tone to the men, hoping that his imprisonment brought at least something good. His video message had had no influence of things what so ever. They still had her in captivity.

"I agree. You have no need for her," Thor said.

Coulson shook his head. "Actually, we can't do that. Not until we have run a few tests on her anyway."

Loki's well composed and cold appearance crumbled down as he thought about the horrible tests Emma had been once gone through. He narrowed his eyes and furiously slammed his hand against the wall, casting a mean glare down at the men of S.H.I.E.L.D. "If your people will harm her, I will find a way to break out from this cage, and I will not rest until I will stand knee deep in your blood!" he growled, his eyes sparkling in wrathful anger, his breathing steaming on the glass.

"Loki, that is not helping," Thor said, but was beginning to regret he had helped them capturing Loki, getting nothing in return. He was strongly getting the impression that Loki did care for that woman after all, in his own unique way.

Fury took a step closer to the cell, thinking that maybe it was in order to remind the alien creature who were in charge. He pressed a few buttons on the control panel that opened the floor under the glass cell, revealing a long tube-alike hole that led all the way out form the flying vessel, the hole big enough for the whole cage to drop off.

"What are you doing?" Thor asked a bit worried moving closer to Fury, keeping his eyes at Loki's cage that hanged above a void. He wasn't going to let them harm Loki.

A huge draught filled the whole room around them, the wind howling through the hole, and Loki glanced down from the hole seeing a dark sea somewhere very, very far down below them. And it just then occurred to him that he wasn't really that immortal he would had like to be. That fall would have been fatal even to him.

"Thirty thousand feet straight down in a steel cage. You get it? Just say if there's some place you'd like us to drop you off," Nick Fury said to his prisoner in an ominously manner and Loki answered that with a silent scowl. "I didn't think so!" Fury stated and pressed the button again, closing the hatch, ending his little demonstration of having the upper hand. "We've got your girl, Loki. So, you be good in there!" he said carelessly and walked away.

Agent Coulson went with Fury and Thor followed them, giving one more lingering, deploring glance at his brother. Thor was truly hoping he was doing the right thing.

Loki watched them leave, lifting his hands against the wall, falling into a foul mood. It burned him that his so called brother would have rather helped those deceitful mortals than him. _That righteous fool was only playing into their hands!_

Loki had seen Emma in that interrogation room with the agent, and wished that she was alright. He couldn't bear the thought that they would hurt her because of him. He cursed his feelings. It would have been a lot easier not to feel a thing. _Why did he care for her this much?_ He had even let himself been deliberately caught because of her as though he had become obsessed of her. At least they were now closer to each other again.

To scheme up a perfect plan, he knew too little of this S.H.I.E.L.D and these people, but he was working on something. His spent a while studying his cage that seemed to be tougher made that he had expected it to be. _Damn! Breaking free from them was going to be very tricky._

**… …**

Sourly Thor walked out from the prison section with director Fury and agent Coulson. He had thought that the son of Coul was a man of honor but he knew nothing of Fury or their organization. Loki had already questioned about their agendas and sowed a seed of doubt into Thor's mind. It was not that he would have trusted more of his brother than Coulson at the moment but he had his doubts.

"Has Ms. Morgan been anymore collaborative yet?" Fury asked as they moved to a long corridor.

Coulson shook his head, walking side by side with his boss. "I am afraid not. But we haven't really gotten started yet."

"Loki is captured. Whatever this young woman has done I am sure she has done it under my brother's influence. I know he can be very persuasive. You are going to set her free now, aren't you?" Thor asked, getting a bit worried. He wished no harm for the woman.

Fury stopped in front of the interrogation room and gave Thor an upset glance. "Do not let her looks fool you, Thor. She might appear harmless to you, but she killed nine people in cold blood when she was sixteen. I wouldn't describe her as a people person."

Coulson's expression told that he didn't quite agree with that, watching at Ms. Morgan through the partly closed window blinds. She sat at the table where he had left her, her palms over her face. "Well, it may not be all that black and white, sir. She has changed from those times. It has been eight years."

"May I speak with her?" Thor asked.

Coulson shrugged, seeing no reason why not. "Go ahead," he said and opened the locked door for him.

"Thor knows about the Tesseract. He is becoming a risk," Fury said to Coulson with a gravely serious face after Thor was out of their hearing distance. "If he would get that object into his hands..."

"With all due respect, sir. If Thor would want to cause harm, he wouldn't need the Tesseract to do it. He would be unstoppable against all our weapons all by himself. He's on our side. It is Loki, we should be worried about."

"But you said it yourself that they are brothers. Ever heard that blood is thicker than water?"

Agent Coulson smiled. "Adopted. And what comes to that quote, it originally meant that blood shed on the battle bonds soldiers stronger to each other than sharing the same womb."

"Well, if you'll ever give up your day job you could make it as a history teacher," Fury stated sarcastically and left.

A young male agent rushed to Coulson with a file in his hand. "Sir, we just got back the results from the full DNA profile test you ordered," he said, handing the file to agent Coulson, looking eager with an uneasy grin. "You're never going to guess who her daddy is."

Coulson knitted his brows with curiosity and flipped the file open, checking the results. "Oh, hell! You've got to be kidding me!" he sighed, glancing at Ms. Morgan, knowing only the reputation of her newly discovered father.

**… …**

When Emma heard the door opening and noticed Thor stepping in, she stood up, alarmed, taking a defending stand. If a gaze could have killed, Thor would have been a dead deity already. "What do you want?" she shouted at him angrily, moving backwards behind the other side of the table. She kept clenching and opening her fists because another wave of freezing pain seized her hands as though someone had been thrusting thick needles into her forearms and the back of her palms.

The door closed and Thor stepped closer to her slowly. "Do not be afraid. I only wanted to speak with you."

"I have nothing to say to you. Except that you just won _'the worse brother in the whole universe'_ -award!"

"Me?" the god of thunder asked, bemused. "Loki has done unthinkable things, but you must believe me, I wish no harm to him. Even we may not share the same blood, we grew up together. I would never hurt him."

"Yeah? You really fooled me. All he has ever wanted is to be your equal. You are his family, and you and all of you have treated him like shit…"

"Not true. He was raised as a prince of Asgard just like me." Thor stared at the woman with a serious and a bit sad face. _Was that truly what Loki had felt like all these years?_ "No matter what he claims, I did not toss him into the abyss. Yes, we fought, but not because I would have wanted to fight him, but because I tried to stop him destroying Jotunheim. Loki chose to plunge down from the Rainbow Bridge into the eternity of cosmos all by himself."

"A damn liar! You are lying!" Emma shouted furiously.

"No, that is more of Loki's specialty. I tried to help him… but he let go…"

"Yeah, I bet! How long did you have to keep stomping on his fingers before that happened?"

"Enough! How dare you to speak to me like that?" Thor cried out in a rough but pained voice and it startled Emma. He tamed his voice and his expression. "I am sorry… I love my brother more dearly than anyone. When he let go I was forced to watch him fall… unable to help him. I would have given anything to keep him safe."

After a small startlement by his raised voice Emma let down her guard, listening to him, the sensation of pins and needles easing on her hands. "Loki chose to let go?"

"Yes… We all thought we lost him for forever. We mourned for him. Thankfully he ended up on Earth…"

A tear glimmered in the corner of her eye as Emma lowered her head and let out a long sad sigh. _That's why he was so lost and angry the first time she encountered him in Greenland._ He had been ready to die. There still was a lot she didn't understand but maybe the queen Frigga wasn't the only one who truly had loved Loki. All her anger was gone as she thought of him.

"He must have been so lonely and scared and desperate to give up. Can you even beginning to imagine how he must have felt like, when he discovered that his whole life had been nothing but a lie? That his family had lied to him from the very beginning? That his is a monster everybody hates?" she asked in a silence, sympathetic voice.

It was Thor who was quiet now. It sounded like she knew a side of his brother Thor had never met in his life. "Sounds like you two are close?"

She shrugged. "I guess you can say that."

"Do you love him?"

Emma swallowed considering hard. She would have so wanted to say yes. At least that's what she had felt with him last night. "I don't know. Love might be a bit too strong word to use. I've just met him. But I care a whole lot about him. In fact more than I have cared for anyone in a very long time." She looked straight into Thor eyes with a great concern. "Is he alright? Have they hurt him?"

"Only his pride has taken damage, otherwise he is fine. Well, except being caged and waiting for his judgment."

Emma took a step back and leaned her back against the wall, feeling hopeless. "Then it's all over. We're doomed. At least it was fun as long as it lasted."

"Fun?" Thor pondered the choice of her words. _It seemed that Loki had perhaps found just the right girl for him._ "Perhaps he was not just lucky to make into Midgard alive. I think he was lucky to meet you," Thor said and watched at the small woman who lifted her confused eyes at him. "I know my brother better than anyone, I know his true nature. And I can see that you have a good heart. I would not want to see you getting hurt being tangled up in his lies."

Emma gave him a small, pained smile like that had been a cruel joke. "You mean he's a trickster, huh? Oh, trust me I've met that side of him. But I fear that he's not the one who would hurt me," she told and glanced at the agents behind the windows. It sounded that maybe Thor wasn't that bad as she had first thought and what Loki had let her to believe. "No matter what they say, those people will kill us both. I've met their kind when I was younger. They locked me away, hurt me, treated me like I'd been a monster because I've abilities that others don't. I had to fight my way out... I'm not proud of it." She sounded ready to cry. She wasn't sure if she had it in her to do it again. "If you love Loki like you told me then take him away from these people, please. You have no idea what they'll do someone like him. In fact, if I'd be you, I wouldn't turn my back at them at all."

Thor glanced at Coulson and the other agent over his shoulder too. "I trust that Coulson in a man of honor. And I assure you I will do all in my powers to make sure both of you and Loki will stay unharmed. You have my word," he said assuringly and walked back at the door, giving it a knock. He was beginning to truly fear he had chosen a wrong side. He turned at her to continue: "It strongly seems that Loki cares for you too. What he said in his message about you; it was not true."

That was all she had wanted to hear. "If you will take him to Asgard, can you promise he will be safe in there?" Emma asked with genuine worry in her voice.

Thor hadn't really thought about that yet. "It is up to our father to decide his fate."

"Then what do you think he will decide?"

Thor stared at her then lowering his gaze, not saying a word. He wasn't sure about it either.

_So, the situation was that bad._ Emma was speechless, watching Thor leaving and Coulson entering the room. She took a moment to gather herself and then faced the agent with newfound fighting spirit. "I want to see Loki!" she told, not asked.

Coulson sat behind the table again with his files. "I'm afraid that's not possible right now. Please, sit down. We have much to discuss."

Emma remained standing in a corner of the room like a petulant kid, refusing to obey. He was going to have to force her and she was going to beat the crap out of him if he would lay his hands on her. "Not until I have seen Loki!"

Phil Coulson didn't get so easily upset. "When was the last time you saw your mother?" he asked calmly, looking down at his papers.

Emma had sworn to herself she wouldn't open her mouth, but that question made her letting out an annoyed snort. "If you're going to blackmail me through her, then go ahead, please! I haven't seen that cow in eight years after she abandoned me to be tortured. I wouldn't care if she'd be dead."

"Aileen Morrison is alive, living a quite nicely in Florida..."

"I don't want to know!" Emma screamed, getting angry, the pain returning into her hands.

"... with her husband and two young daughters and a dog, a dalmatian. I can give you her address if you like."

Emma stared at the agent with fury eyes, swallowing the stubborn tears down. _That man was pure evil telling her this!_ She didn't want to know if her mom was living a nice family-live in Florida with her half-sisters like Emma would have never existed. Less could have broken her apart.

"I don't want to know! She is dead to me." She took a few nervous steps and would have wanted to throw something hard and spiky at the agent. They were like two totally opposites. She felt like raging at him and he was a _Mr. Freaking Serenity_. "Oh wait, I take that back. Do give me her address so I can go and kill her myself!"

"Then how about your father? You might want to see him."

Emma shook her head, her heated expression turning into a dry smile. "Never knew him, neither did mom really. So, good luck with finding him!"

"Well, actually we have found him. We ran a full DNA profiling test from your blood, and found your father from our own database. Since you two share the mutation the test result is more than 99 percent accurate," Coulson told and noticed that Emma turned at him hesitating. She said nothing, only stared at him taken aback, so he continued. "As I told you we follow and keep an eye on individuals that are considered dangerous. He is a mutant with unique powers like yours. In certain circles he's known as Wolverine and he has been a member of a group of called the X-men..."

Until the X-men part Emma had listened to Coulson in slowly growing interest, but then she burst out laughing hysterically, not believing the things he was telling. "Really? I didn't know my mom's exes had a club of their own. Do they have matching t-shirts with a text like _'I banged Aileen!'_? Oh, Jesus Christ! What a load of crap!"

Coulson waited as long as she had calmed down. She leaned against the wall sideways not bothering to even look at him. "The X-men are an organized group of mutants that have a connection to our government. Usually we don't go stepping on each others toes. Occasionally we have some small collaboration with them but they do not make a fuss of themselves and we have no interest of their affairs." He placed one of his papers on the other side of the table for her to see. "We don't know much about Wolverine's history but he goes by the name Logan."

That name was the only thing she knew of her father. "Logan?" Emma whispered, standing still, not turning at the agent. _Damn, he was good messing up her head! Like she wouldn't have been enough messed up already._

"You cooperate with us and we can arrange a meeting for you two."

"Why? Why would I want to see a man who has given me nothing more than this curse?"

"I don't believe it is a curse. And meeting with your father might help you understand your gifts," Phil Coulson said and stood up, taking his files, leaving only the one paper with Logan's picture and a few lines of information on the table. "Give it a thought. We'll continue this later," he continued before he left her alone.

Emma kept standing a long time leaning against the wall, failing to ignore what she had just discovered. She hated everything what that agent had told her, about her mother, about the man who was suppose to be her father, and especially that she couldn't see Loki. She turned at the table where laid the paper with a picture of her father. She couldn't tell how long she had stood in front of the picture without looking down at it, fighting against the storm of feelings whirling inside of her, her fists tinkling with that freezing pain, until she finally let her gaze drop down. She wondered how old the picture might have been because the man in it looked about thirty. And he had hair, a quite a lot actually and some massive sideburns issues. Now she knew where her bad hair days originated from. "Logan," she read the name above the picture. _So, that was her dad._ She looked nothing like him.

She sat down at the table and closed her eyes, returning her thoughts to Loki. Maybe he was a bit of a prick, but she wasn't going to abandon him no matter what they were bargaining for.

**… …**

Thank you truly **SenSen-Chan** for your lovely reviews. They always makes me happy and encourages to continue. You are a lovely person.

The next week I'll be super busy. My best friend is getting married on Saturday and there a lot of stuff I'll have to do, all those taking time from my writing.


	17. 17 When push comes to shove

Sorry, it took time to get this chapter finished because last week I was too busy. I was hoping I could have updated this before the Halloween but here we are now. Oh, and thank you so much for your kind reviews. I really love to know what you guys think about this story. And I'm so happy if you like it.

**… …**

"Sir, another video from Loki was just uploaded in Youtube," one of the agents informed to director Fury who stood on the commander bridge of the Helicarrier as it was approaching the east coast of the United States and the shores of Virginia.

"Put it on the screen!" Fury grunted.

Fury, Coulson, Natasha, Thor and Tony stared at the big screen where the favorite god of mischief gave another one of his brilliant magic shows. It was something new they hadn't seen yet, some of the tricks new also to Thor. And it was followed a short speech with his charming voice asking people of Earth support him in the fight for the brighter, better world. It sounded like Loki had taken the matter of saving the planet for his primary topic.

"Is he not in his cell?" Thor asked pointing at the screen bewildered.

The Commander Hill watched at the smaller surveillance camera screen from Loki's cell that showed him being safely locked up. "He has not left his cell. The video was filmed earlier and put on the internet just now."

"So, there is someone else helping him," Natasha pondered. "Who?"

"Sir, the video was uploaded from England."

Fury looked very much annoyed. "I want those videos removed from the net. I don't care if you'll have to take down the whole damn World Wide Web. Just do it!"

"Yes, sir!" The agents got into work, but then one of them grimaced. "Um, sir? All the videos seem to be now also available in the Torrent-net."

"Speak English! What does that mean?"

"It means that they are harder to get rid off, sir. The videos are there for free. People keeps sharing them, they are already all around the globe."

Tony Stark surfed in the net and turned at the others. "Well, not just that. This guy is all over the net. He has his own Facebook-profile now and already 7360 friends there. _Let's save the world together!'_ Nice! He's gone Instagram and also has a half of a dozen date profiles. Hear this one out; _an Asgardian king looking for devoted subjects_. _Double-crossers don't be bothered!_ Also this one if good; _Hail to the king, baby!_ Now, where have I heard that line before? Some of these pages are actually pretty good, some looks like they were made by a ten years old."

"Is this a joke?" Natasha asked, giving Thor a questioningly look.

The god of thunder shrugged being as much puzzled as the others were. "This is Loki we are talking about. He is a known trickster in Asgard. It is not just power or revenge he is after; he loves to create chaos around him."

Fury turned at agent Coulson. "Find out what Ms. Morgan knows about this Loki's internet charade. Put a pressure on her. Make her talk!"

Thor glowered at Fury and moved closer to Coulson. "I will not let you harm that woman! I have given her my word."

"No-one's going to harm her," Coulson assured to Thor and as if telling to it to the others.

"I could have a little chat with her," Natasha suggested, lifting an eyebrow in a significant manner, when saying a chat meaning something a quite different. "She said that Loki has messed up her mind. I know how to strip a girl from false illusions."

Tony Stark grinned to that. "Oh, I would like to see you stripping a girl from anything at all."

Natasha and Commander Maria Hill rolled their eyes for that comment.

"No-one's going anywhere near her!" agent Coulson protested, knowing something about Ms. Morgan than other didn't. "I believe she is traumatized enough from everything she has faced. If we would have a subtle approach with her, she might switch sides voluntarily. So, if you don't mind, I'd like to do things in my way," he explained and glanced then at Thor as he was leaving the commander bridge. "I'm going to get a cup of coffee. Anyone join me?"

When Tony and Thor left with Coulson for some caffeine refilling, Fury got curious about agent Romanoff's suggestion. "So, you believe that Ms. Morgan is brainwashed by Loki?" Fury asked in a silent tone. "What would you suggest we should do?"

Natasha shrugged. "Some cognitive recalibration. But Coulson may not like it."

"Meaning?"

"Send me to talk to her and you'll see."

Fury glanced around him like they were about to do something naughty. "Do it!"

"You might want to switch off the surveillance camera of the interrogation room." With that Natasha smiled, turned on her heels and left.

**... ...**

Emma stared out through the interrogation room's window, pondering where the S.H.I.E.L.D. people had taken Loki. The narrow corridor seemed to continue a long way to the right. She took note there was one guard standing opposite the door of the room she was been held. The man glanced at her with his dark, observing eyes, and she moved away from the windows, walking a few circles in her cage, trying to calm herself down, telling herself that everything was going to be alright, somehow. She just needed to keep calm. She had no afford to loose control. She was worried for Loki more than she was worried for herself, she realized. And yet she was angry with him, for leaving her alone in that morning, for calling her _a lost creature_ and even more for getting caught.

She kept thinking why she was cursed like this. When she had finally found a person to trust, someone to let really close to her, someone whose touch she was craving for, how come the whole world seemed to be against them.

The door opened again and the red-head female agent stepped in, casting a short gaze at Emma. "Don't worry, I'm not here for a girl-talk," Natasha said and the door closed behind her.

"I won't talk to you," Emma said, getting a bad feeling. There was something about that woman that made her skin crawl. "I'll only speak with that other agent guy."

"Agent Coulson is having a break." Natasha walked closer to their prisoner with careless steps. "There's something that bothers me about what you told me about Loki."

"I haven't really told you much about him."

"That's true. But you seem to stand up for him constantly. I wonder why? What happened with him?" Natasha pondered aloud but Emma didn't bother to answer that. "You slept with him?"

Emma snorted resentfully, clenching her cuffed hands. "That is none of your goddamn business!"

"A sore spot, huh? You said he messed up your head. Believe it or not, I have some experience of that. I know what that it feels like when someone is toying with your mind…" the red-head said, for the first time in a compassionate voice, as she moved closer. "You helped the archer out there in the glacier when Loki was going to kill him. At least you tried to help him. You see, Clint is the only friend I've got. So, I'd like to help you out here in return."

Emma couldn't help but to smirk a bit confused. "Really? So, now you want to be my new best friend?" she asked sarcastically.

"Not really. Sorry about this, but we needed to get your head straight," Natasha said.

And what happened next, happened so fast that Emma never saw it coming. Without a warning the woman shoved her towards the wall, span her easily around and slammed her head hard against the back wall. All that, before Emma had made a move to fought back with her chained hands.

_Bang! And _she found herself from the floor on all fours, her head aching with a splitting headache like she would have been going head to head with a big mean goat. A small grunt escaped from her as her vision went black for a second with a flash of pain, but what came back with her sight was much worse, much darker, much more painful.

Natasha watched at the blond one crawling on the floor as she was going back to the door. "You'll thank me later," she assured with a hope that she had stripped off whatever spell Loki had put on their captive.

The darkness Emma had been holding back found her once again with that sudden, unfair assault against her. The bestial rage surged over her, blackening her mind, bringing out something primal and unstoppable that she couldn't keep at bay any longer. And it hurt so much like she would have punched knives through her fists. She heard a terrible, heartrending scream before she realized that it had escaped from her own mouth, smelling blood, her own, as something sharp had pierced through between her knuckles feeling cold as ice. After that something snapped inside of her, the darkness swallowed her mind and what was left was the beast.

"Ms. Morgan?" Natasha asked cautiously when Emma rose on her feet visibly trembling, her back towards the agent. Natasha could hear Emma's breathing turned into harsh rasps and pants after that awful scream like she had been eaten alive, and she thought that maybe she hit her too hard on the head.

The door slid open but Natasha returned to her victim a bit concerned. "Hey, are you alri…?"

Her words were cut off when all she saw was glimmering blades flashing before her eyes, nearly cutting her throat, she just barely dodging them with her cat-like reflex. Another set of blades was already coming towards her and she blocked Emma's hit, not yet understanding where those weapons had emerged from.

With a kick she sent her armed opponent slamming hard against the wall but this time Emma didn't drop on her knees. The blonde came onto her again like a ferocious beast and that's when Natasha noticed that she hadn't smuggled those blades there with her, they seemed to grow out from her fists, like three 8 inches long claws on both hands. They weren't made from steel. That was all she could tell.

Natasha was starting to get the picture why Coulson had been treating Ms. Morgan with kid gloves. "I'm sorry! Let's talk about this!" she suggested hastily, dodging those deadly claws which was considerably easy as it appeared her advisory being unaccustomed with them and especially with cuffed hands.

Another slash with a furious scream came too quickly and Natasha got two nasty cuts on her left arm. And that made her giving all she got, sending her opponent towards the windows with a kick.

Relentlessly Emma stood her ground against the agent who was quicker than she and highly trained in combat, but physically Emma was stronger, the primal instincts pushing her to the limits. As she was about to launch another attack, every muscle in her body stopped obeying her with a sudden flash of pain that went through her body like a lightning. She screamed and slumped onto the floor sitting weakly against the wall under the windows since her feet didn't carry her any longer.

The fully armed agent that had been guarding behind the door stood now in the doorway staring at the women, his stun baton, a long electroshock weapon, pointing at Emma that he had used on her. "Stand down, miss!" he shouted out roughly.

"What do you think you're doing?" Natasha asked from the man annoyed and slightly panting, checking quickly the wounds on her left arm and then turning her eyes at Emma on the floor. "I had everything under control here!"

"Sorry, ma'am, but it didn't look like that," the guard said moving in.

_"__You cut off one head and two more shall take its place."_

Emma growled in pain, her muscles dancing with their own will after the shock. Her eyes were closed and her mind in a state of a mess, the haunting visions and torment from her past mixing up with the present. _"You cut off one head and two more shall take its place…"_ she hissed that devilish mantra of her former capturers that she had once used to endure all the torment they caused her, taking strength from those deranged words.

_Loki!_ All she wanted was Loki. The thought of him made her overcome the pain and she was feeling her muscles recovering surprisingly fast.

"What are you saying?" Natasha asked listening to her, unsure what was going on, pulling out her own pistol. "Ms. Morgan, stay down!" she ordered and was going to contact Fury or Coulson, or just about anyone to come down there.

The guard stared down at Emma hearing her words and he took a cautious step closer, taking a look at the surveillance camera up in the ceiling. Conveniently it seemed to be turned off. Then like he would have been possessed, the man moved to Natasha and without a warning knocked her out cold, unexpectedly hitting her on the head with the back of his weapon. Losing her consciousness Natasha collapsed on the floor on Emma's feet. And greatly puzzled Emma opened her eyes again, the pain nearly all gone. She lifted her gaze slowly from the unconscious female agent to the guard as the man was moving closer taking a knife from his belt.

"So, the little lab rat has return home?" the guard whispered at her with a cold, hollow smile, looking at her sitting there all numb, pointing his knife towards Natasha. "It was such a tragedy, really. You killed agent Romanoff while trying to escape and I had to put you down. But don't you worry now. Our doctors will resurrect you once we've got you back. Hail Hydra!" he continued in a silent voice and squatted down next to the female agent. He was going to stab her and make it look like Emma would have done it with her claws.

_Hydra? Here?_ Those words send chills through Emma's spine in a worst way possible and she clenched her fists, noticing that her body obeyed her once again. The man hadn't expected her to recover so fast. With fiery rage like a vicious serpent, Emma pounced on the guard and punched him in the face as hard as she could. She felt her claws piercing his skull with a sound of bone breaking, killing him instantly.

She cried out horrid, pulling her deadly blades off his face and getting up on her trembling feet. She had not meant to kill him, only make him incapable of hurting her, but now the lifeless body of the man fell onto the floor next to Natasha Romanoff. The female agent was still out cold and Emma rushed, partly crawling, out from the room in panic, feeling sick on her stomach and terribly afraid of what she had become.

When she made it to the corridor she kept stumbling against the walls, her legs still learning to carry her. She stared down at her hands, at those sharp, sparkling, translucent claws that were coming out from between her knuckles. They nearly looked like… ice but fortified somehow, having a feeling of hard, cold steel, and there was something inside of them. She was trying to get those horrible things off from her hands, unsuccessfully, only hurting herself. And when her hands got wet by her own blood she forced her hands free from the handcuffs, pulling them off and somewhere in the process her claws drew back in. Then she stopped as the scent in the air captured her full attention and she took a sniff, a long inhale like a bloodhound, her all senses sharpening.

_Divine… Safe…_ _Loki…_

It was the only scent that smelled safe, so she followed it, wanting nothing more but to find him.

**… …**

Loki breathed heavily after spending some time conjuring a wide variety of energy blasts and spells trying to break free from his secured cage. He had even kicked and punched his fist hard onto the glass, only hurting his hand and ending up cursing.

The cell must have been made for a true monster, Loki pondered and cursed the mortals who had captured him. He must have been mad to let them caught him. His plan, if he even had gotten one, had failed and he sulked in his lonesome misery. All the good he had (mentally) gained with his time with Emma felt like it was slipping away through his fingers like sand. How could have someone he hardly knew made him feeling stronger, whole, and undamaged? Because that was what he had felt with her. For a small moment she had liberated him from his rancor, replaced his long-lived hatred with a sense of caring and warmth. With her he had felt like he could have had the whole world.

A gun firing resonated on the corridor, behind the only door to his prison room, and Loki turned towards it, listening carefully with curiosity. It sounded like something unpleasant was coming at his way. The sounds of gun firing and pained screams of men ended as suddenly as they had started with one aloud slam on the door. Loki was only hoping that perhaps Thor had finally changed his mind and decided to help him after all.

The door slid open and Loki moved next to the wall for a better view. And to his shock he didn't see his brother but Emma walking in and shoving a wounded soldier out of her way. The soldier's body collapsed on the floor when she let go of him, ghastly gurgling and coughing sounds growing faint as the man was drowning into his own blood, his lunges been pierced by her claws.

Loki blinked a couple of times to make sure he was seeing correctly. "Emma?" he whispered with a sigh as he watched her approaching his cage walking up the few steps.

He was speechless, taken aback and horrid by the sight of her. Her dark jumpsuit had bullet holes with blood stains around them, four he counted; one on her left shoulder, one on her right thigh and two above her waistline. And her hands, he took note to his grave shock, her beautiful small hands had something like blades sticking out from them, three on each hand.

"Emma, what have they done to you?" His voice was a whisper as he leaned against the strong glass wall, lifting his hands on the glass.

The gaze of her lovely blue eyes wasn't hers, the expression on her face cold and emotionless like a predator's. His heart sank with a desperate hope to touch her, to bring her back from that darkness where her mind was dwelling. On that moment he regretted that he had ever wanted to see her true beast-side. He was looking at it now, and he could understand now why she had wanted to keep that darkness at bay. She had fought her way to him and it looked like she had had to gone through hell for it.

"Emma… It is going to be alright… I promise," Loki said softly, feeling himself as a terrible liar. He couldn't help her as long as he was inside the cage.

His scent had guided her there, and when Emma finally stood before him, watching at him through the transparent wall, the dark curse she had been under was slowly fading away. The pain caused by the several bullet wounds, that had pushed her into savagely acts, was leaving her. She stepped even closer to the wall, staring into his green beautiful eyes as if searching for something in them, and then recognizing him. Loki spoke to her assuring everything was alright and his voice was calming her down, bringing her back. Tears came out first and then her completely shattered own self followed.

"Loki…" Her voice was small and fragile, differing strikingly of her monstrous acts.

Emma lifted her trembling hands on the wall wanting to break through it to him and Loki moved his hands to meet hers, only the glass between them two. She saw her blood stained claws and her breathing was quivering hard. And Loki could understand her fear, feeling her pain, the strangest sense of empathy filling him. It was like he would have been watching himself on the moment he discovered that he was a Frost Giant, when his hand turned freezing and blue in Jotunheim; the moment he was starting to realize he was cursed, a monster.

Her gaze focused on Loki again and she looked like she was going to fall in pieces. "Help me…" she sighed weakly, her eyes begging him. "Help me!" she screamed, panic-stricken by her own violent acts, fear twisting her face.

Loki shuddered a bit by her heartbreaking voice and for a moment she feared that he too saw her only as the beast she had turned into. She let out a helpless cry and fell on her knees, sinking on the steel grid floor, pressing her head against the glass.

"No, no, no… It is alright," he assured softly to placate her, tears creeping in the corners his own eyes. He stared down at her claws, his expression confused and pitiful, uncomprehending what had happened to his beautiful, fierce Valkyrie. To him those blades looked suddenly very much the same as the icy weapons conjured by the Frost Giants that they fought in Jotunheim. Loki gasped, fearing he was somehow responsible for that odd transformation.

"I couldn't control myself." Her pained voice faltered. "They are here… the Hydra. I killed them… I didn't want to. I killed them, Loki. I don't know how many… Please, don't let them take me away… please…"

He kneeled on his right knee to be closer to her, his hands against the wall, his eyes never leaving her. He could tell that she was in a state of shock. "Look at me, my Valkyrie," Loki said shivering, his voice calm but enjoining. And Emma obeyed, her strayed gaze returning to his eyes. "Listen to me. I swear to you everything is going to be alright, my dear," he promised with a weak smile. He couldn't do for a better. "Remember…?" He swallowed to clear his voice. "You remember when we were hanging in that frozen canyon in Greenland. I promised you that you will be save, didn't I?"

Emma took a moment to think. "Yes…" she answered weakly and a small smile visited her lips. "You swung me up from there."

The security alarm went off and the sound of it carried through the closed door from the corridor, but Loki didn't let it bother.

"Yes I did. And I promise you now that you will be save, with me, I swear to you. Please, trust me."

Emma whispered his name. She just wanted to touch him. She ran her left hand over the glass on the level of his face, and she winced when her claws retracted, returning back where they had came from, the small holes between her knuckles healing in a heartbeat. "I don't know what is happening to me. Loki, please help me…"

Loki had never seen anything like that and he kept watching at her in concern. At least she was returning being herself. "I will. I will. But you must open this cage to let me out. Can you do that for me, my Valkyrie?"

Emma nodded nervously, checking for a door or a button to push. "How?"

He got up on his feet encouraging her to so the same. "There are controls that will open the door," he explained, pointing his hand towards the control table that he had seen Fury using.

"Okay…" she breathed, mustering up her courage and thoughts, as she hurried at the control table. Still greatly anxious, she tried to figure out which button in that digital board would open his cage. "Which one? Does it need a code? This is too damn complicated!" she yelped in distress, her focus momentarily stolen by the dead soldier in front of the door. "Oh god! I killed him…"

"Emma, listen to me! You can do it. Calm down and concentrate," Loki encouraged her gently, truly hoping she would find the right button in time. But it was a bit too late.

"No!" A rough male's voice carried from the door as Thor rushed in. "Do not do let him out!" the god of thunder spoke, his gaze quickly dropping down on the dead guard on the floor and then returning to her as he walked closer. "What have you done?"

Thor's sudden arrival and his aloud voice startled her and she let out a pained scream as the claws popped out from her hands as if with a will of their own, her left hand's blades piercing the control table accidently. Sparks flew from the digital board and she pulled her claws away from the panel stepping aside, cutting ever more of the panel. The pain caused by the blades coming out, however short-lived, felt crushing, nearly blackening her shattered mind again. "I'm sorry… I'm sorry…" Emma whimpered looking wretched glancing at Loki, but then she turned her angry gaze at Thor who had made her do it. "Do you have any idea… how much that hurts?" she screamed, her voice full of agony and anger.

"What the…?" Thor stammered, staring at the small woman and the claws that were growing out from her hands.

"Emma! Please, calm down!" Loki gasped seriously worried, feeling a small shake in his cell. For one who had always been pulling the strings Loki hated his powerless state, having no influence of things around him whatsoever. With an ominous feeling growing inside of him he watched at his Valkyrie who looked like she was preparing for a fight with his brother. "Oh, for heaven's sake! Thor, do not hurt her!" he cried out.

The short circuit in the control panel made the machinery of the cage functioning unexpectedly, and the floor under the cage opened leaving Loki's prison hanging above emptiness, violent draught and howls of the freezing wind filling the room. Loki didn't dare to move inside the cage, his arms width on his sides as if hoping to keep the balance. He hardly dared to breathe, staring at Emma and Thor with pleading eyes.

Something was sparking above the cage and the lights of the cell went out.

Without thinking much Thor rammed to the cage just in the nick of time before the four metallic arms, holding on the cage, released their grip and the cell was completely unanchored. Thor groaned slamming hard against the glass wall and doing his best to support the weight of the cage against the railing on the other side. He was literally keeping his brother's life in his hands as he fought against the gravity, trying to keep the cell inside the air ship, the railing on the other side slowly giving in. The draught was sucking everything small enough towards the opening and his cape and hair were flaring wildly in the wind. "I got you…" he grunted with a grimace and it looked like he would have been hugging the cell. "I got you now."

Loki and Thor stared at each other into the eyes, Loki scared to death if his cage should fall down but hating his brother for always showing up in a worst time possible, and Thor desperately struggling to keep his brother alive, not letting him go this time. Thor groaned, holding on the heavy weight, having nothing to take a good grip on.

A hopeless, sad smile twisted Loki's face and he nearly laughed, thinking that maybe he should have started to jump inside his cell to make it harder for Thor to hold it. "Why?" he asked from Thor, wondering why he didn't simply let him fall. "What is the point, Thor? You refused to help me when I asked you help. Do you think this would change anything?"

"I will not let you fall, Loki!" Thor groaned, telling to himself that he owned this to his brother since he failed to protect him in Asgard. But it was getting harder, the weight of the cage becoming heavier for him to hold. "Get help!" he shouted at Emma. "I don't know how much longer I can hold this!"

Loki rolled his eyes. "What a brilliant idea, Thor! If she would run out there like that they will kill her… or she would kill them, all. Really? I would not be surprise if you would try to do _'get help'_ with her!"

"If you will not stop shooting off your mouth I just might!"

Emma was struggling with her own mind and trying to keep herself together, returning her fearful gaze from Loki to the broken controls, cursing herself for breaking it. Most of the digital board was gone and the remaining part of it not working. _She had risked his life! _

"Fuck!" Emma roared in a panicky voice, slicing furiously the whole control table in pieces.

Thor grunted, glancing at her over his shoulder with difficulty. "Now who is breaking all the stuff?"

Emma glared at him, her helpless expression turning into a severely pissed off one. "Wiseass Asgardian prick! It was your fault. You scared me! Do you want me to come over there and shove my spikes up in your arse?" she roared like mad.

"Good to have you back, my Valkyrie." Loki let out an amused snort, wiping a tear away from the corner of his eye, bouncing his gaze between the two. "Thor, apparently she likes you," he said in his charming sardonic tone.

Thor returned his eyes at his brother who stood on the other side of the cell at least trying to make his burden a bit lighter now. "Loki, do you think this is funny? We could both die if we fall and she has claws coming out from hands!"

"Yes, Thor, thank you for narration. I can see that. I am not the one who is blind here."

"She looks like a nightmare creature. What manner of beast have you turned her into?"

"Oh, fuck you! You're not that pretty yourself!" Emma cried out to the god of thunder, shaking her hands for hoping her claws to pull back in. She hadn't yet figured out how they worked.

"Loki, you make her stop! She killed all those people. Is she mad? Is this your doings?"

Loki was offended by Thor insinuations. "Even though I would love to take credit of her actions I assure you this is none of my making."

Thinking hopelessly how to help Loki Emma moved to the cage, circling to the left side of it. There was another smaller opening in the railings. She would have so wanted to stab her claws into Thor's back and for a short moment she really planned to go for it. She carefully went down the stairs and took the dead guard's sub-machine gun. Then she came back with the weapon.

"Loki, step aside. I'm going to try to shoot this open," she told to Loki and aimed the gun towards his prison.

It was hard enough to use the weapon with her claws but she managed to fire a short round at the glass wall that remained intact, the bullets bouncing off from it onto the walls of the room. _Of course it had to be bulletproof! _She cursed and threw away the weapon that dropped into the big hole and out from the Helicarrier. _What to try next? Her claws?_

"What the hell is going on here? You started the party without me?" Tony Stark asked as he entered the draughty room in his Ironman's armor. "Um… honey, you're better put those down before you hurt yourself!"

"Hey, do you have a can opener in that fancy suit of yours? Please, open this damn cage before it falls!" Emma shouted at the Ironman begging.

"No! Tony, help me!" Thor shouted, feeling his hands sliding on the glass and the steel grid floor he was standing on was giving in under the weight he was holding. "I can not hold on for much longer." He was leaning against the cage over the gaping hole as he had managed to push the cage towards a bit. But anymore further on and he would have dropped off with the cage.

"Oh my, am I a popular guy now?" Tony grimaced moving in and putting his suit into action, pushing the cage with Thor, using his rocket thrusters for boost. "Wouldn't it be easier just to let him go this time?"

Everything seemed to happen at the same time. As the superheroes were keeping Loki's cage on board, the door slid open yet again and Nick Fury stormed in with Coulson and a few armed agents. Emma turned at them, her beast-mode just waiting to been turned on. The red laser sights of the agents' weapons sought her out.

"Commander Hill, please, close the hatch down here," Fury spoke to his communicator, taking control of the chaos around him. Then he noticed Emma and her claws. "Ms. Morgan, put down your blades!" Fury ordered.

Emma glanced at Loki and he looked back at her with a sorry look in his eyes, mouthing her name, knowing he had failed her. He didn't want her to get hurt anymore she already had. He was already safe as Tony had managed to push his cell to a safer distance from the hole, the cage laying slightly askew over the strong steel structures of the room. The floor closed, ending the draught, and the place was a bit safer again.

"Brother, please!" Loki pleaded with Thor not to let them hurt Emma. "Thor! Get me out from this cage!"

Emma felt helpless, fighting against her inner demons as all focus was on her now, she being the target. "Stay away from me! I know what you are. You are all of Hydra!" she shouted, taking a defending stand, clenching her fists and her icy claws grew a few inches in length. "I warn you! Back off! I will not go through that hell again!"

Coulson was speechless by the sight of her. _She definitely was her father's daughter._ "Ms. Morgan, please calm down!" Coulson said calmly taking a step closer the stairs. "No one is going to hurt you."

"Oh, hell! I have had it with mad people killing my men!" Fury grunted severely annoyed. "Stand down, miss! And put your weapons down, or we will shoot you!" he repeated his order.

Coulson glanced at his fellow agents and Fury by his side. "Please, sir. That is not helping here."

Thor heaved a long sigh after his exertions, returning his gaze from his brother to the agents. "I will not let you harm her. She is under my protection as is my brother. Why the hell did you lock him inside this deathtrap?"

Soon everybody was shouting at each other; Loki hoping to soothe Emma and crying out for his brother to help. Thor at the agents. Fury to Emma and to Thor to back down. And Emma at everyone else, the darkness entering her mind and bringing out the beast again.

That's when agent Coulson made his move, overstepping his authority. He pulled out his special handgun, and shot at Emma when she was about to jump at them like a wild beast with her claws, hoping to do it before the other agents would shoot her down.

The hit felt like the time would have stopped around her. Emma dropped on her knees, leaning against the railings, staring at the agents with puzzled expression. She pulled a small, red dart from her upper chest, a tranquilizer dart, and collapsed on the grid floor as her body fell numb along with her mind. Her last sight was Loki watching at her in terror from his cage, slamming his fist on the glass wall and calling for her name. She had gotten so close to him.

_He looked like a fallen angel watching over her..._


	18. 18 About trust and lies

When her consciousness returned, the first thing Emma saw was a pair of bright emerald eyes and a sweet smile that grew on his lips as he watched down at her, standing next to her bed.

"Easy now, my Valkyrie," Loki said softly in a quiet voice, a bit of sadness in his gaze as he hunched closer to her. "How are you feeling?"

"Loki," Emma sighed sharing his smile, looking up at him in wonder. "I'm fine now when you are with me."

She tried to reach out and take a hold of his hand but found herself in restraints. To her puzzlement she was tied to a narrow bed. The head of the bed was elevated so she was nearly in a sitting position, her hands tied from her wrists, a band over her waist. Her legs were tied as well from her ankles. Even more confused she took note that they were in a small room with only one small window.

"Please, try to stay calm," Loki said quietly.

"What's going on, Loki?" Emma asked getting worried, trying to pull and force herself free, but there was no use. She was tied securely to the bed. "Help me. Get these off!"

"Shh…" Loki hushed her gently. "I wish I could," he said and waved his hand over hers, his fingers going through her arm with a glowing, golden glimmer like he would have been only a ghost. "A projection…" he sighed with a sorry smile. "We are still in the air ship. I had to see you somehow. I had to know that you are alright."

Emma's lips trembled as she surrendered, giving up the fight against the restraints that held her. Loki wasn't really there with her, just his illusion. Still it was better than nothing. Without him she would have fallen into a dreadful panic. "Are you? Alright?" she asked weakly.

Loki shook his head amazed by her concern of him. "I am still in one piece. My dear, you are a wonder," he said in an appreciating tone nearly whispering. "Believe me I have seen a lot in my life but never have I seen anyone like you."

Even though he meant it as a compliment it didn't feel like that to her at the moment and Emma lowered her gaze repulsed by the changes that had happened to her. The smell of her own dried blood made her feeling sick. She had been shot several times and she had lost the count after the second one, since her wounds had healed so fast. And the claws that seemed to show up with a will of their own gave her the creeps and she let out a long shivering sigh. "So, I'm the monster, for real… A lost creature like you said it."

"No, don't say that! Do not ever say that. I did not mean any of it what I said about you in my message. I did it with a foolish hope that they would have set you free. Trust me when I say that you could never be a monster." Loki moved as close as he could without his projection going through her. He glanced down at her small hands. They were normal again, only some dried blood between her knuckles reminding of the claws that had gone hiding. He would have so wanted to hold her hands. He would have wanted to take her away from these people to somewhere safe. "What happened, Emma? Your hands… the blades… How?"

She shook her head, trying once more to wiggle her hands free from the restraints. It didn't help. "I don't know. My hands have been aching, feeling freezing, the whole time here, and then…"

"Are you in pain now? Does it hurt?"

To her surprise the aching was all gone as if her body would have adapted to its new state. "It only hurts when the spikes comes out. They feel like ice. Oh Christ! What the hell is happening to me, Loki?"

Loki wished he could have given her the answers. What he was able to give her was only some consolation. "So, you have… _claws_?" he asked carefully in a soothing, compassionate voice, his emerald eyes studying her with a mixture of concern and affection.

Of course he found her claws strange, intimidating even, but he couldn't tell that to her, not now. He feared it was his doings, his cursed Jotun inheritance's influence on her somehow through her mutation. And yet he found her so very compelling. He was so sorry, remorseful for his careless approach with her if that was truly what had caused her to suffer so much.

"Yeah… Don't you see me as a freak yet? Because that's what I feel like."

"A Frost Giant," Loki said lifting his hand like he would have admitted being guilty for his parentage.

Emma gave him a tiny smile seeing nothing wrong with that. "I'll bet you're the hottest Frost Giant there is."

Loki answered that with a sheepish half smile being flattered by her silly but sweet words. _Hot and a Frost Giant wouldn't be the best combination!_ _Who was comforting who?_

"Ice claws you said? Well, I can deal with ice. And I must say that your claws are a hell of a lot sexier than gills." He grinned a bit in an apologetic manner. He so wanted to see her smile. "It must be something you got from your mother's side."

Emma stared at him a few seconds puzzled but then a small laughter got the best of her and Loki chuckled with her. He knew the right words to comfort her and ease her mind, and she smiled at him through her tears. She loved him for that. He still looked at her the same way he had used to, not seeing her as a freak. Perhaps he was the only one who didn't see her like that.

"Maybe I should paint my claws pink. Oh, and show some cleavage. The guys here would never see the difference," she jested.

"Hm, that could work," Loki encouraged her playfully, loving to see her smiling again, letting his imagination linger with a thought of that cleavage part. It brought the fresh memory of their last night into his mind. He still wanted her. She was still his own and he was going to save her.

"Do not be afraid, my Valkyrie. You are mine and I will look after you. They cannot keep us apart. I shall find a way to come to you and set you free. And we can share another sunset together… and many more."

Although that sounded so lovely Emma looked miserable. She felt like she had betrayed him. "I got so close to get you out. I'm sorry, I messed it up..."

"Don't be sorry. You are not to blame. Thor…" Loki's face cloude, thinking about his brother. "He is…"

"An annoying, bossy prick?"

The god of mischief smiled to that. "That is a one way to put it."

"But he kept you safe. He cares for you, Loki."

Loki narrowed his eyes, unable to deny it even though he hated it. He could have told her all those times Thor had spoiled his day but there were no time for that. The agents were soon coming for her. "We do not have much time. Emma, listen carefully," he said taking a more serious face. "Do not let them hurt you. You must do all you can to keep yourself safe until I will get to you. The one they call Coulson has taken an interest in you. Use it as your advantage."

That was indeed an impression Loki had gotten when he was forced to witness the aftermath of Emma's restraining from his glass cell, unable to reach to her when she would have needed him the most. The agent Coulson and director Fury had have a heated debate about what was to become of her. Fury had been ready to drop her off from his air ship on the very moment she had lost consciousness but for some reason Coulson had stood up for her with a quite strong words for such a self-possessed man. Loki had become to realize that the agent had probably saved her life by shooting her with a tranquilizer gun instead of letting the others shooting her with the real ones.

Emma frowned. "What? He wants me to work for them. I won't…"

"No! Play along with him and he will keep you safe. Cooperate as much as you can. Be strong. I know that you can. Be ruthless if that what it takes. We must outsmart them together, Emma," Loki said, a cunning twinkle in his eyes, hoping to cement her trust and self-confidence. She needed to feel safe.

"Alright," she nodded feeling uneasy. "I'll do what I can. I'll do it for you, Loki."

The way she said his name, every time, with such a warm affection, it sounded more than just his name, it sounded like a word she treasured the most. No one ever spoke his name like that.

"It still amazes me that you fought your way to me just for trying to set me free. That is more than anyone has ever done for me," Loki said, hating to leave her now on her own. There was so much more he would have wanted to tell her and his expression spoke on his behalf as he reached to her his fingers wiping her cheek, making her longing for his real touch. He too craved to feel her near again. "I will be with you again, my love," he promised whispering, his illusion beginning to fade.

Emma heard the automatic door sliding open and saw Loki's projection vanishing before her eyes with a golden glow, his gaze beholding her as long until he was all gone. _My love?_ _Did he really love her?_ Emma pondered, tears flooding into her eyes. "_Please, don't go!"_ she whispered but he didn't hear he anymore.

With Loki gone a panic struck her as she realized that she was all alone, under the agents' mercy, stuck and tied to the bed. She tried to thresh herself free, but she only discovered that there was no use. The first thing that entered into her mind was a fear that the people of Hydra had found her again, that she was being their lab rat again. That was until she heard an annoyingly calm, familiar voice from behind her.

"It's alright. You are in restraints. For how long, that only depends on you," agent Coulson said as he walked in from a door that was behind her.

Emma turned her face towards the agent as he stepped in the range of her vision. "If you'll touch me I'll kill you!" she menaced but knew more than well being unable to carry out her threat.

"I won't," agent Coulson said and glanced down at her hands. _No claws!_

Never in his long career had he raised his voice to a fellow agent or to his boss or to anyone for that matter. He had been considered a quiet one. But a moment ago he had spoke his mind a quite strongly about the actions that had led Emma Morgan going berserk. Mainly he had blamed Fury and agent Romanoff going behind his back when he had clearly told them to leave Ms. Morgan in peace. They had sent her weak trust on them back to the stone ages. Not mention the body count that had followed upset him very much.

"You are being held here for your own safety and for the safety of the rest of us. As I promised to you already, we don't want to harm you. You're making it a bit hard to keep that promise, Ms. Morgan."

"Oh yeah? You tell that to that red-head bitch who attacked me!" Emma said, her voice quivering. "And your bastard guard who… who..." She swallowed, her gaze dropping down with remorse of every kill she'd made.

Coulson crossed his arms over his chest, watching down at her. It was a bit hard to feel compassion for someone who had killed his fellow agents. "I didn't send agent Romanoff talking to you. She went there on her own against my orders. I already heard her side of the story, now I'd like to hear your version of what happened. Ms. Morgan…" He grimaced, but his voice remained calm and slightly harsh. "You killed four of our agents and injured three. Not very smart move. Would you like to tell me why?"

_Four dead because of her. That was four too many. _Emma took a long breathe, tears rolling on her cheeks as she closed her eyes for a moment. The agent didn't have to go hard on her she was crying because of her own actions.

_Be strong!_

Her thoughts returned to the only one person who mattered. She had been so close to get Loki free. She pondered how many dead there would have been if she would have succeeded to free him. "Four? I didn't mean to kill anyone. I'm so sorry. I really am. When your _agent_ _Romanoff_ slammed me against the wall I've got angry and scared… and I just snapped. And then the spikes came out. It hurt so much…" Emma stared down at her hands. "That guard came. He was going to kill her and me. I only wanted to get out, so I punched him, but... I didn't realize…" She swallowed hard. "I won't go back being their lab rat. I won't go through that hell again. I won't…"

Coulson frowned unable to quite understand what she was saying. He would have checked the security tapes but the camera had been turned off. And he pondered why. He could tell there was something fishy going on around them. "Our agents are loyal to each other. We won't go harming people without a reason. And we most definitely are not the Hydra. In fact we are doing our best to protect you from them."

_Cooperate!_

Emma lifted her teary eyed gaze, looking at him in the eyes. "If that's true then you have a very big problem, agent Coulson, because the Hydra is here, among your people."

"That's impossible."

"Do you want to know what's impossible? That I would meet an alien on a glacier. That some crazy, icy spikes would grow out from my hands. That's what is impossible! But Hydra… they are everywhere. Thor, the other Asgardian guy, said that you are a man of honor. I'm starting to believe him. But you can't protect me from the Hydra. You can't even protect yourself from them. That guard, I swear to you, he was one of them." She let out a long sigh feeling hopeless. "But what would I know about anything. I don't even know what is happening to me. If you thought it's a good thing I adapt to every shit that comes along you're wrong. You are looking at the saddest human being on the face on earth. I have no control over myself. When I get mad enough, angry enough, my mind goes black. I can't stop myself even if I'd want to. It was bad enough without these fucking claws. And now I'm turning into a real monster. Loki was right. I'm a lost creature."

Coulson had a lot digesting to do with what she had told him. He found it hard to believe that Hydra would have infiltrated into their agency. But something strange was indeed going on. And it sounded like the claws was a new thing to her. She was going through a rough identity crisis among other nasty things.

Coulson grabbed a seat and sat closer to her, giving her a moment to calm down. "It highly seems that you have been undergoing a phase called a secondary mutation. It's rare but it happens to some mutants. Your abilities may increase or you may develop new powers… such as these _claws_."

Emma stared at him horrid. "So, I'm really becoming even more freak than I've been. Why?"

"I'm not an expert of mutant abilities. Like I said, you exposed to radiation and who knows what…"

"Are you saying that Loki did this to me?"

"Not necessarily. But I do believe that it is something you have had within you, and it has been just waiting to come out. You should know that your father…"

"I don't really want to know a damn thing about my father right now!" she cried out.

"With your current state and your violent outburst…" Coulson took a moment and reframed his thoughts. "My superiors have increased your risk level. I'm going to be honest with you. They see you as a lost cause. If I fail to change your mind about joining us, I am afraid I don't know what will happen to you. So, please, help me to prove them wrong."

Emma let out a sad snort. "I don't get it. If I'm a lost cause, then why do you bother to do this?"

"Because I can see that you could become a damn good agent if someone would give you a chance. We would train you. We can give you a completely new identity, and change it if needed. I would do it myself so nothing would trace you back to your history."

_Play along!_

She swallowed, feeling strange that someone, a complete stranger, would believe in her that much. If they would have met in some other circumstances she might have actually like the guy. And that's why she didn't like to do this but it was time to get into the game. "So… tell me, agent Coulson. What do I have to do?" she asked cautiously.

Phil Coulson smile a bit. "First of all, you need to trust me." He glanced down at her tied hands. "Now, would you mind if we'll take these restraints off? Can I trust you?"

**… …**

Triskelion, The S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarter, Washington D.C.

Loki probably hadn't hated Thor that much before as he did at the moment. Thor had saved him from falling down with his cage from the Helicarrier, probably saving his life. Yes. But the god of thunder kept treating him like a common criminal. His self-righteous brother escorted him through a long, narrow corridor, 4 floors beneath the ground under the S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarter. The place looked like a modern dungeon what it probably was. They were accompanied by ten armed soldiers and Ironman, making sure their prisoner wouldn't escape this time. Loki's hands were chained with strong-build handcuffs especially made for Bruce Banner. They called them 'Hulk-proof' and he had discovered that he wouldn't have strength enough to break out from them.

To Tony Stark this babysitting job was just waste of his precious time. He wanted to return back home to Pepper and to finish the prototype of his new, better suit and repair the old one he was wearing.

"So, Loki. I guess it's time we talk man to man. I'm sure we're all dying to know here," Tony begun, glancing at Loki, his visor open. "How was she like? This badass mutant chick? Assuming you two were intimately involved."

Loki gave the man only a stern, annoyed scowl, so Tony continued in a smug tone. "A gentleman never tells. Actually I'm starting to be a fan of the way she looses the control and turnings into this _wild thing_, tearing stuff apart. She's like a miniature Hulk in a hell of a nicer wrapper. And the claws were a new thing. Did you know about those? Talking about some nasty PMS, huh?"

"Do not talk of her!" Loki said simply, walking along with his capturers. He would not hear people mocking of Emma after all she had done for his sake.

"Sorry just trying to keep up the conversation."

"For pity's sake don't!"

Moving calmly and hiding his boiling rage, Loki only glanced distinctly despising at Thor who walked by his side. "I never thought the day would come when you, all mighty Thor, would sink this low. You have become but a lapdog of these mortals. I do not recognize you anymore."

Thor gritted his teeth, knowing that was all but talk, still it did sting him. "Likewise, brother."

"Tell me, what did you bargain for this? There must be something you will gain for betraying me. Or do you only get praised?"

"Enough, Loki! I kept you safe, didn't I?"

"Yes, but for what reason?"

The corridor split in two different directions and the soldiers ahead took a turn to right. When Loki gave a short glance at his left before following the leading men, he noticed Emma on the left side corridor. She was escorted by two soldiers and agent Coulson. She must have heard his voice and his name been said by Thor, because she watched at him over her shoulder, looking so small and fragile as they were taking her away. They had seen each other only two hours ago when he had visited her with his projection.

"Emma!" Loki called out after her in a concerned voice and stopped walking in the crossroad of the corridors. She turned her head away, dropping her gaze down, as she kept walking forward and away from him.

"Emma!" Loki repeated shouting her name, not getting anything in return from her. _Why did she say nothing at all? What had they done to her? _

He felt Thor giving him a shove to go on, but he remained where he stood, his gaze not leaving her. "Emma Morgan! Do not walk away from me!" he yelled once more, his voice nearly trembling, fearing that she too had eventually turned against him as had everyone else done. He had failed to protect her as he had promised and it pained him. But they had talked earlier. She had seemed to be fine.

Every step had felt so hard to take and Emma finally stopped walking, hearing him calling for her for the third time. She had had enough of Coulson's mind-games, him encouraging her to join the SHIELD and turning her against Loki. _Two could play that game!_ She had spent two long hours talking with the man, giving him cautiously an impression that she was willing to switch sides.

Looking hurt, she turned around watching at Loki, her hands in handcuffs. "A lost creature, huh?" she cried out at him sounding offended, her voice echoing in the corridor. "Is that how you really think of me, you damn Trickster?"

_Damn! Where they back in this again?_ Loki dropped his gaze for a second and swallowed, pondering what was going on. He had said he was sorry, that he hadn't meant it. Then he smiled inwardly understanding where she was going with this. _We must outsmart them together._ _They were playing a little game just like in England. It actually could work._ His expression turned to stern but then he grinned like the devil. "Well, it took you long enough to realize it, my besotted darling," he spoke in a cold, smug tone.

Emma looked shocked but inwardly she smiled too. She hoped he had gotten the clue of her little game. He had only called her _darling_ while they were pretending to be a married couple in England. It was all an act for the people around them. "Wha…? I tried to set you free! You are not even going to try to lie?"

"What's the point? I dragged you along with me because you of all these pathetic mortals could have aid me taking this realm. I admit I took a liking to you. You possess such power but your weakness is that you simply cannot keep in under control."

_Ouch! He knew the worse words!_ Emma glanced at agent Coulson with a timid look as if asking for his permission, then turning back at Loki. "I trusted you, but you just used me. You messed my head! I was such a fool for letting you wreck my whole life. I'll bet these fucking ice claws are just another one of your damn tricks!" she said with a pained voice, taking a couple of steps closer to him along the corridor. "I should have swung that shovel into your face when I had the chance!"

The soldiers restrained her, but Coulson shook his head with curiosity. "I want to hear this," he said quietly to his fellow agents, hoping that she had finally come to her senses. The soldiers let her go, and Emma walked slowly towards Loki and the group of soldiers he was with, the red dots of the laser sights emerging escorting her, the armed agents walking by her side.

Tony looked like he would have something clever to say but Thor frowned at him shaking his head and lifting a finger as a warning to keep his mouth shut.

_It was working! _The trickster god was pleased by his Valkyrie's cunningness when he watched her coming closer. And he truly hoped she was just acting. His voice was heated and his face harsh but nothing like he had been when they had have a real verbal fight in Greenland. "How dare you speak to me like that after all I did for you? I looked after you, you little wench! I would have given you the world."

"It would have been a bit hard to give something you don't have!"

Thor frowned, confused by the quick change of their hearts. They had appeared to be in love, wanting desperately safe each other only a few hours ago. _What had happen?_ "Perhaps you two could talk this through later?" Thor suggested carefully.

Emma had made her way so close to Loki that there were only three soldiers between them two. She glanced over her shoulder at Coulson who stood a bit further away. "What I am about to say to him, I want to say it to his face not through these creeps," she told to the agent.

Coulson gave a small gesture to his men to give her space and let her step in front of their prisoner. And there she was only a couple steps away from Loki, staring at him with sad eyes. "You were a mistake," she said taking one more step closer.

Loki looked down at her with narrowing eyes. He almost smiled since she had talked her way to him. "So were you."

A small smile rose on her lips as she kept watching him, her expression turning gentle and her voice changing to soft and loving. "You divine prick! Loki, you're the best mistake I have ever made. It was about time someone turned my life upside-down. You're the only one I've ever cared this much, and I wouldn't change a thing in you. I trust you with my life," she confessed, speaking fast to get it all said before they would separate them again, rushing to him the last two steps just to touch him.

Her words and the tone of her gentle voice melted Loki's heart. Their acting was all gone. With cuffed hands he took her face between his palms, and he could see from her blue eyes that she had longed his touch as much as he had longed to touch her. A tiny smile crept on his lips as he lifted his arms over her head and closed her in his locked embrace, hunching down to kiss her, since it could have been their last kiss for goodbye.

The whole day she had wanted nothing more than to be in his arms again. And when he held her, his arms around her, it felt the only place in the world that made any sense. His lips brushed over hers as he whispered three words: _"Trust me now."_

And that's what she did. His sweet kiss was like a prize for putting up all the trouble for that day and she gave into it, tasting him hungrily and welcoming his tongue. His hold tightened around her waist and she felt her feet leaving the floor as he lifted her like she would have been carried by pure magic. She felt safe with him. The wall of the armed agents around them meant nothing anymore. And for a moment she got the strangest out-of-body- experience.

Thor watched them kissing bewildered and with a small guilt. He knew Loki had never been so opened of showing his feelings. And she had had to lie just to get closer to him. To Thor it seemed that the two liars deserved each other.

Tony rolled his eyes. "Oh yeah, you two take your time. It's not like the rest of us have anything to do today!"

Coulson knitted his brows. Ms. Morgan had done perfect job by fooling him, again. "Alright. The show is over. Take them away!"

"Come on, brother," Thor said to Loki in a compassionate voice, hating to break their intimate moment. As he was taking a hold from Loki's shoulder, and two of the soldiers were grabbing from Emma's arms, their hands went straight through the prisoners like they'd had been just passionately kissing ghosts.

"What the..?" the soldier rasped, waving his hand in the air through the female captive, then turning his puzzled gaze towards Coulson. "Um… Sir?"

Tony grunted gaping. "Oh, you've got to be fucking kidding me!" he grunted slamming his visor close and scanning the area with infra-red.

Phil Coulson gave his men an annoyed face, looking shocked. "Damn it! Close all exits! And find them!" he said picking up his mobile phone and making a quick call. The men left with hurry looking for the runaways.

The holographic illusion faded away in front of Thor's eyes, and the first though he had made him smile, a tiny part of him actually glad Loki had escaped with her. _Damn, Loki was truly a clever trickster!_ Thor admitted with a small sense of pride of having Loki as his brother. After that came a worry of all that could go wrong.

"You think this is funny?" Coulson asked from Thor walking past him.

Thor wiped the grin off his face. "No. I will catch them. They won't be far."


	19. 19 The darkest hour

It was not what Emma had expected when she approached Loki. She had just wanted to steal a moment to be close to him, but now she was running with him along the long, steel-gray corridors back to the direction where they had came from. He had snatched her away from their capturers; kissed her with a sweetest kiss and picked her up in his arms like a guardian angel. It had been like an out-of-body- experience, seeing themselves distancing from the illusion Loki had conjured of them two. She wasn't sure how he had done it but she was happy he had.

He had conjured away both of their handcuffs and they rushed side by side holding hands, glancing at each other with small grins, not believing that they had pulled through it. Emma could have never imagined Loki running away from anything. But there he was, dashing with her like a wind and Emma was glad no one had gotten hurt.

It was beyond his understanding how desperately he had wanted her back and how very pleased he was now, her staying by his side even against all the trouble they had faced. "For a small moment there you got me worried that you were having second thoughts about us," he smirked.

Emma let out a tiny giggle. No matter what had happen she couldn't be happier being with him again. "You're the one who asked me to be ruthless."

"Not towards me!" Loki laughed. His long legs set the pace of their run and she made an effort to keep up with him. "Please forgive me that I was not there with you when you awoke in this morning as I promised."

Emma did her best to recall everything that had happened on that day already. It had been an awfully long day. "Yeah? Where were you?" she asked as if scolding, breathing fast while running even faster, holding on his hand.

Loki grinned a bit with a sorry look. "The boy, Damien, insisted me to go seeing his grandfather's horses in the morning. And before you ask; he is fine. He is back in his home."

Emma laughed a bit. "You are his idol! You actually went seeing horses with him? You are a big softy."

Loki took a breath, sounding careless as if they had been simply jogging hard. "He would have not granted us any peace in the whole night if I would have not given into his wishes."

"Yeah, I bet it could have turned out to be a quiet different kind of night having him with us. And silly me thought that you had dumped me."

"I will never let you go, Emma Morgan."

"You could have taken the world without me, you know?"

Loki knew that. And yet his plan was progressing quietly on the background, the young ones he met in England were working for his cause. He cared none of that at the moment, though, as he smiled to her. "And what would I have done with the world without having anyone to share it with?"

She was surprised by his sweet words. "If we both managed out of this alive, I might fall in love with you, Loki of Asgard."

Loki gave her a fond sideways glance, squeezing her hand tight. "If you would do that, I just might give up my plans for world domination and settle for you."

"Oh, you think you could dominate me instead?"

"Most certainly," he grinned.

"Hey, I have claws now, so you're better stick with the world ruling plan!"

They both chuckled a bit, panting. And then they heard the sounds of the approaching soldiers from behind as they were reaching to the elevator. The soldiers were yelling after them to stop.

"Please, no more killing, Loki!" Emma shouted, exchanging glances with him. "Let's just get out of here!"

The thrill of escape was becoming unbearable as a few gun shots carried through the corridor. The doors of the elevator were still open and Loki and Emma rushed inside. Loki pushed Emma protectively against the side wall into a small sheltering nook and sent an energy blast towards their followers. A first few fell down but the rest kept coming, opening fire at him. So, did Ironman who had reached by the agents' side.

Emma hit the elevator's buttons trying to get it into motion. "Come on, come on!" she grunted.

Loki delivered the soldiers another energy blast and another. The heavy rain of bullets rattled against the metal walls and the closing doors of the elevator, Loki taking a few hits but they rebounded from him. Thanks to his durable Frost Giant inheritance and Asgardian sorcerer's abilities he was able to withstand almost anything they had for him, except maybe Thor's hammer and Ironman's missiles.

"Hold your fire!" Thor shouted to the agents while emerging on the other end of the long corridor. "Loki! Do not do anything stupid, brother!"

Loki got the glimpse of running Thor when the doors finally closed holding back the shots, and the lift was in motion, heading up.

_It had been close!_

Heaving a sigh and smiling broadly, Loki turned at Emma, thinking about their options to get out from the building complex. "So, are you ready to show your claws? I want you to stay behind me when we..."

All his thoughts came to a halt as he watched her leaning and sliding down against the elevator's metal wall as if her feet had gone numb under her. A blood red stripe, like swept with a brush, was drawn on the wall behind her head. Loki reached out for her and caught her before her limb body slumped on the floor, him holding on her behind her back. There were several bullet holes on the side walls, ricochets that had bounced off from him. One under her blood stains.

"Emma?" Her name came out from his mouth with a whisper as he held her in his arms. Her eyes were partly closed and rolled up, only the whites showing. There was a long wound on the left side of her head above her ear, blood pouring out from it, dribbling on the floor. The white bone of her skull was exposed where a ricochet had peeled skin and hair off from her head. And not only that, there was a small piece missing from her skull on the back of her head, her brains been exposed and partly damaged by the shot.

Loki gasped in horror, staring down at her, kneeling and laying her gently on the floor. "Emma, no! No, no, no!"

The taste of her sweet lips still on his, the feeling of utter helplessness grabbed a cold hold from his insides. He stroked her head gently, unsure where to hold her, or what to do. She was still breathing that much he could tell. "Emma, please, please..." His voice was trembling, his throat tightening, his heart pounding in his chest as though it was going to explode in pieces.

It had been his fault. The bullet had bounced off from him and hit her. He had believed he had been protecting her but he had pushed her right there where the ricochets had hit. "I know you can make through this, Emma. Come on! Stay with me!" His words were more of a prayer than anything else. Then for a tiny moment his face darkened. "Do not dare to make me go rummaging through all the underworlds to bring you back, my Valkyrie!" he rasped as if a threat would have brought her back, tears rushing into his eyes, his lips trembling.

The world had stopped in a heartbeat, him holding her, sitting on the elevator's floor on his knees. It could have been only a few seconds or an hour. It felt all the same. The doors opened as the lift reached the floor zero, but Loki paid no attention to it. Another group of armed soldiers were already waiting them behind the threshold of the elevator. In the corner of his eyes Loki saw the approaching men with their weapons. His attempt of escape was over, he being shocked more than he was when Odin fell into the Odinsleep. After all Odin had always pulled it through, she may not. He wasn't going to leave without her even he could have fought his way out easily.

"Help her!" he said begging, his gaze never leaving her. "Help her, please!" he roared at the soldiers who moved closer to them.

**... ...**

No more mocking words. No more bitter, despising tone in his voice. Thor hardly recognized his brother who stood still and numb inside his new cell, larger than the one in the Helicarrier, equally strong made. Loki had come there quietly, being like a shadow of his former mischievous self, not saying a word.

That was the first time, they both on Midgard, Thor would have wanted to give him a brotherly hug. Thor could only imagine what was going on in Loki's mind. He had never seen his brother like that, so shattered, so quietly. And they had gone through a lot together, good and bad. Thor had expected to end up into a fierce battle with Loki just like before but when he'd found his brother in the floor zero, restrained by the group of armed agents, Loki had looked completely heartbroken and given up.

"I heard the healers on Midgard are highly competent, so I am sure she will be in safe hands," Thor said, giving some console words, knowing it didn't mean much to Loki. It wouldn't have meant much to him either if it would have been Jane in Emma's place right now. And he regretted he hadn't brought any healing stones with him. Those could have helped her.

_"__I trust you with my life."_

_"__If we both managed out of this alive, I might fall in love with you, Loki of Asgard."_

Loki couldn't get those Emma's words off his mind, thinking only that if she would die, the people of SHIELD should pray his cage would hold him. At the same time he cursed these feelings. He cursed that he had grown so fond of her that it hurt him to see her suffer. He cursed that everything he cared was stolen from him, ripped from his hands. She had made him keeping at bay the darkness that lurking inside of him. For a small moment she had made him feeling of being a worth of something more. For a moment she had made him forget the pain he had been exiled with. And Thor, the golden boy, knew nothing of it. His gaze strayed without anything to look at, not really hearing what the people around had been telling him. Loki had hardly looked at Thor at all.

"Loki, I am ..." Thor begun, but Loki lifted his hand for him to stop pouring his consoling words.

"Don't!" Loki said his voice cold as ice, his face expressionless while he was slowly turning away. "You have done enough already. Go and claim your trophy!"

"I did not want this to happen," said Thor, talking to his brother's back.

"You think I did?" Loki's tone was feeble, unfamiliar to his normal character. "If she would die... I will not be responsible for my actions."

"As if you ever are." Thor was struck speechless by his brother's blindness of seeing his own flaws. "How come you fail to see your own part in all of this? Did it not occur to you that she is not bullet-proof? She is not like us."

Loki turned to face his brother. "At least I was doing something, trying to get her out from here, while you idly fret!" he cried out, a glimmer of madness flickering across his face. The same look Thor recalled him having while they had fought in the Bifrost observatory.

"Loki, you do not truly know her and yet she lied for you. She killed for you…"

"Yes! She did more for my sake than you have ever done!" Loki was quiet, staring straight into Thor's eyes, and he looked sad again. "Why could you not leave me in peace? Everything was fine without you," he said with a whisper.

"You know damn well why I came to Earth."

A very small smile visited on Loki's lips. "Did you know I was planning to meet you precious Jane? I would have shown to your woman what the Asgardian kings are made of. I would have made her beg, I would have make her scream and curse you..."

Without a second thought, Thor slammed his fist hard to the strong glass wall, enraged by Loki's provocation. It made aloud, hollow sound, the glass remaining intact. Thor glared at his brother who still seemed to be the same, or even the worst, that he had used to be.

Loki let out a pained chuckle-alike, glancing at the glass. He wished Thor would have brought his hammer, so he could have talked himself out from his cage. "I would have killed her very slowly, very intimately, transformed myself into her beloved Thor," he continued, relishing of seeing his brother boiling in rage behind the transparent wall, but there were tears brimming in his eyes. "Come now, brother. Why not share the frustration? The pain? And hatred? We are family after all, are we not? Oh, I forgot; we are not!"

Thor gathered himself realizing that it was all talk. It was grief and pain. It was all Loki was capable of at the moment. "Loki, you make it very hard to feel sorry for you," Thor snapped back at him and turned to walk away.

Loki watched him go, a small part of him dying every time he fought with Thor. "Have you not yet guessed why I never went to New Mexico, to your woman?" he asked and saw Thor stopping but not facing him.

He took a lean from the cold wall, anger and pain from his face fading away. "Because of Emma. She talked me out of it. Do not ask me how, but she did." He swallowed his tears but his eyes got wet. "Her last words to me before she…" His voice grew faint and he sucked in a breath. "She said; _Please, no more killing, Loki._ I should have not listened to her. I should have killed them all to keep her safe. So, you heed my words, brother. You tell them to hide the Tesseract. You tell them to hide it well, because this cage will not hold me forever if something happens to my Emma."

**... ...**

In his job working overhours had been more of a rule than an exception. Coulson hadn't had a decent night sleep in a few days already and Fury had told him to take a break. But as usual to his style he never left anything in a halfway. He grabbed a takeaway coffee and went back at the hospital ward within the Triskelion building complex. Emma Morgan had been taken there to be treated. Her head injuries caused by the ricochet had been severe. For a normal person the trauma would have been fatal, but in her case Coulson had remained hopeful.

Phil Coulson took a sip from his large coffee cup, walking to the ward where he had left Ms. Morgan a while ago into the care of the doctors and nurses.

"Agent Coulson?" one of the nurses from the desk yelled at him just as he had arrived there.

"Yes."

"We have a situation in the CT-room. The female patient you just brought; she came in conscious and is being out of control now. The security is there now. Also the STRIKE team has been called."

Coulson gave the woman his coffee cup and rushed at the small radiology department that lied behind a few long hallways. As he got in there, he heard a gun firing and pulled out his own pistol, sidestepping through a small rush of staff and patients that ran away from the threatening sounds of gun firing. Another shot carried through the corridor and a strong-build male security officer scurried hunching for cover into the corridor from the CT-rooms, dragging a male doctor with him over the floor. The doctor had injured his throat, being barely able to breath. And the security officer had a nasty cut in his right forearm.

Phil Coulson hurried to them and squatted down checking the doctor's state. "I'm agent Coulson. What's the status here?"

"Hey, we need help over here!" the security officer shouted at the doctors on the other end of the corridor. Then he turned at Coulson. "That woman went completely berserk when she regained consciousness," the man said, helping the doctor as he spoke. "She assaulted the nurse and Dr. Leon, and as we got here she managed to take my Taser and shocked my colleague with it. He's still in there. She was armed with some crazy blades. Shit! I've never seen anything like that. Then she took his gun and start shooting at everything, screaming like mad."

"Alright. I heard that the STRIKE team is coming for back up. Don't let them rush in. I'm going in there," Coulson said and got up on his feet.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you. Let the STRIKE have her! I'll bet she is high on something."

Coulson cautiously went in from the first door leading to the CT-rooms, remaining behind a wall next to the door that had a small window screen. Apparently Ms. Morgan was on the other side of that door. Coulson could hear her walking and tossing things on the floor inside.

Coulson took a breath and exhaled it slowly. "Ms. Morgan!" he shouted through the door.

Immediately he got answered with a gun shot that broke the glass from the door's window. "Fuck you! Fuck all of you! It's over! I'm done! I will not let you hurt me anymore!" a panicky young woman's voice cried out back at him.

For someone whose brains had been partly damaged a while ago, she sounded doing just fine. It was no question that she had her father's fast healing abilities. "No-one's going to hurt you! We are here to help you. Please, put the gun down!" Coulson yelled and he was delivered another shot.

"I'll kill you all if I have to! No more!" she screamed like a mad.

"Could we please talk about this, Emma. Can I call you Emma?"

"Who the fuck is Emma?"

"Emma Morgan? That is you, isn't it?" Coulson was sure it was Ms. Morgan's voice he heard.

There was completely quiet for ten long seconds. "Why the hell would you call me with my grandmother's name?" she asked in a slightly confused voice.

Phil Coulson banged the back of his head quietly against the wall and heaved a sigh. _The brain damage had caused her amnesia? _"Emily Morrison?" he asked cautiously.

"Like you miserable fuckers wouldn't know!"

_Charming teen angst! _Coulson took a moment to think. "It's alright. I'm an S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Phil Coulson. We have taken down the Hydra's research unit where they kept you. They will not do any more tests on you, I promise. We have caught them, all of them. You are safe now, Emily! It's over. You're safe!" he spoke in calm, compassionate and assuring voice.

"It's over?" a tiny voice asked, nearly crying.

"You have my word. It's over. They are gone. No-one's going to hurt you. Could you please put your gun down, so we could talk?"

"I... I want my mom!"

"Of course. We'll find her for you. I'm going to come in now," Coulson said and cautiously pushed the door ajar. _No more firing._

At first his attention was caught up by the male security officer that was lying down on the floor, the wires of the Taser still attached to his torso. The room looked empty, and he stepped in, but on his right he noticed Emma on the other side of the room, next to the massive CT scanner, still holding on to her gun, not aiming straight at him, but hesitating to put the pistol down. Her head was wrapped with bandages and the left side of her blonde hair was stained with blood. She looked small, fragile and confused like a child in lost.

Coulson showed her that he put his own gun on the table and hoped her to follow his example. "It's alright. I won't hurt you."

"You are not one of them?"

"No, I'm not," Coulson continued in his calm way and kneeled next to the security officer to check up his pulse. The security officer was fine but unconscious; he was going to have a hell of a soar body once he would wake up.

Emma followed the agent with her gaze doubtfully. "Do I know you? You look... somehow… I don't know." She touched her head with left hand, feeling the bandages, not knowing why she had those.

"We have never met. Are you hurt?"

"My head hurts. I don't know what they've done to me. My hands… there's something inside of my hands. Spikes… they came out. It hurt so much." Tears were rolling down on her cheeks as she held on to the gun with both hands. Her head felt like a mess, everything mixed up. Things didn't make any sense, flashbacks of memories hurling inside her head. "I hurt people. I didn't want to. I just wanted to go home, but they were trying to hurt me."

"No one is going to hurt you now."

"I don't know where I am."

"We are in a hospital. And you will get to home. Can I have that gun, please?" Coulson said walking slowly towards her, keeping his hands in her sight.

Emma moved backwards away from him. "Don't touch me! I'll fucking kill you if you try to touch. I swear, I will!" she screamed.

"I won't. Everything is going to be alright, Emily," Coulson reassured, reaching his hand. "Would you give me that gun, please? What would you say for a nice large cup of hot cocoa?"

"That would…" She wiped the corner of her eye with the back of her palm. "That sounds nice."

"There is a little cafeteria right behind a corner. We could go there. I'll buy."

Hesitatingly she let him have the gun, taking a few steps backward, gazing at him confused, being scared about everything around her. He seemed safe enough to trust, acting completely different than those who had once captured her. "How did you know I like hot chocolate?"

Coulson gave her a small, compassionate smile. "I didn't. That's my favorite drink."

**… …**

Standing tall and imposing, his hands clasped behind his back, Loki glowered down at the male agent through the glass wall of his prison. He felt like an exhibit in his glass-steel cage, but instead of being ogled by idiots around him he was locked up underground where no one would see him. _Out of sight, out of mind?_

The man, Coulson, had come down there into the dungeons to tell him the news about Emma, Loki assumed but he wasn't sure if he wanted to know. He didn't let his uncertainty show though.

After the incident in the radiology department, Coulson had taken Emma for a cup of hot chocolate as promised (shooed out the STRIKE soldiers) and slipped some tranquilizer into her drink. She was sedated and sleeping in another ward now. The CT scan they had finally managed to take from her showed no more physical damage in her head. And her claws, they hide inside her forearms and appeared to be of bone, very small actually. Coulson figured out that the thick coating layer of ice somehow emerged on the claws when they came out, but he wasn't sure how.

"I won't keep you long. I know how busy you are, scheming to take over our world and all," Coulson started gazing up at the captured Asgardian deity with a tender sarcasm in his voice.

"Hm," Loki snorted at his poor attempt of humor. He might have been captured but not defeated yet. "Why are you here?"

"I thought you should know that… Emma Morgan is gone."

"What?" Loki sighed in a gravely shocked voice, shuddering, his cold gaze piercing the man before him.

Coulson was interested about the trickster god's authentic reaction. It was as if he would care for her. "She is alive but she's not the same person you knew. Physically she is healed from her injuries but the shot caused her a brain damage that led to amnesia. She is suffering from a memory lost. Her whole identity as Emma Morgan is gone. She has forgotten everything what happened after her 17th birthday, including you. It is as if you would have never existed to her."

Loki hid the first shock with difficulty under a frown. _At least she was still alive._ That was all that mattered. _It seemed that his capturers enjoyed of seeing him suffer_, he pondered. "How long will it last?"

"We don't know. She might recover, regaining her full memory in time or remain the way she is for the rest of her life."

Loki walked closer to the wall, his face nearly expressionless but inside of him was a storm raging. "What will you do to her now?"

"That won't be your concern anymore."

The god of mischief took more intimidating pose, leaning his right hand against the wall, staring down at the agent. "Oh, but it is. My bargain to you still stands. If your people would harm her, you will regret that you caught me."

"She got injured because you tried to escape with her!" Coulson reminded. "Thankfully she is a fast healer. Which makes me wonder; is that the reason you are interested in her? Because of her powers? You had a perfect chance to run without her. Why didn't you?" he asked curiously but Loki didn't answer. "If she would be cooperative, as she seems to be now, we have no reason to harm her. For her sake, I hope she'll never remember you," Coulson informed shortly and was leaving.

"The Hydra…" Loki said, his voice turning smaller, and Coulson turned back at him lifting an eyebrow, "I do not know what or who they are, but she fears them more than death. She told me everything, what they did to her once. She would not survive through that again." The trickster god's hostile conduct was all gone and he stared at the agent with a begging look. "Son of Coul, you swear to me she will not fall into their hands!"

Coulson frowned a bit confused. But then he nodded in understanding and left.

Loki watched him go. His forearm across the glass Loki rested his head against it, his forehead leaning to his arm. His eyes were filling with tears, forcing him to close his eyelids. _What was he mewling about like an infant? She was a mortal. A mortal!_ he tried to reason with himself, but his sanity wasn't listening when his heart had finally gotten its turn to take the stage.

If someone would have told him back in Asgard that he would weep for a mortal one day, he had laughed and called them mad fools. Now, the only fool was him, for feeling like this. He felt himself being pathetic, the sentimentality was killing him. To his own puzzlement he couldn't tell was he feeling wretched because he had nearly lost her or that she didn't remember him at all anymore. _Was it too much to ask to have one person in his life who didn't see him as a monster? Just one who he didn't have to share with anyone else?_

Emma had given him everything he had ever desired; the admiration, acceptance and the feeling of being loved. She had unlocked some feelings that were nearly novel to him like truly caring for someone else more than himself. Not mentioned the intimate connection they had shared. It was as if he had taken a bite from the forbidden fruit; another kind of life had been unveiled to him. And he wanted all that back with her.

Everything that could have gone wrong had gone terribly wrong. The pain of every miserable thing was cumulating inside of him, and Loki let out an anguished roar. He punched his fist against the wall, and he kept punching until it hurt too much to continue. He circled in his cage frustrated and screaming out his pain.

He could felt her lips on his, feel her touch on his skin, the soft touch of her golden hair against his palm. He was beginning to regret he had ever kissed her, that he had ever forced her to come alone with him. She had crawled under his skin and made a little warm nest inside his heart. She had made him a weak fool. _A soft oaf!_

_"__I like you being a big soft oaf."_

He smiled a bit to that thought, hearing her voice in his mind. _She couldn't be gone! He was not going to let her go,_ he told to himself and took a seat on the floor in the middle of his cell, legs crossed, and closing his eyes. He had never done this before but he recalled that had created a connection into her mind while they were sitting inside the snow vehicle in the storm. _Maybe, just maybe if he would concentrate hard enough she could hear him._


	20. 20 Forget me not

It was late in the next morning when Emma awoke from a strange dream she would not have wanted to wake up from at all. It had felt like a sanctuary from all the scary and unfamiliar matters she was facing. The horrid memories of her torment years ago still fresh in the back of her mind. She was thankfully though of knowing that she wasn't there with those sadistic bastards anymore. Her identity and mind was reset back into the time when she still used the name Emily Morrison.

She was lying on a soft bed under the covers and lifted her head to take a look around. The small room around her was bright and nearly all white, only a few simple furniture there; the bed she was on and a small table. The bed was in a tiny alcove, assuming that there was a bathroom in the room. The daylight was streaming through a window. It could have been a very modest and plain hostel room, but without any cheap paintings hanging on the walls, it looked more like a tidy prison cell. It smelled clean, sterile. Up in the ceiling was a lamp, a smoke detector and something that looked like a half orb shaped surveillance camera.

She remembered the kind suit-man, the agent, who had took her for a cup of hot chocolate in the hospital, but not much after that. Confusion struck her hard. _Had he drugged her? What had he done to her? Where was she? _He had sworn she was safe and that she could go home to her mom.

Her mind was still a mess and she stayed a while in the bed, recalling her dream. It was the only thing that gave her some comfort, helping her to put aside her worries. She had heard a soft, soothing voice of a man talking to her. He had sounded kind and warm and loving. She had seen him as if through a thin mist. He had been very tall, black-haired, and divinely handsome. With his beautiful green eyes he had beheld her affectionately with a small smile.

She had dreamed of an amazingly beautiful, golden city with a sparkling bridge over a Sea that had an end like in the old myths; the end of the world, the water pouring out into endlessness of space. And the man had been showing it to her, walking with her along the streets of the golden city. A part of her was sure she knew him but the other part was refusing to tell her who he was. He hadn't told his name to her even she had tried to ask him that. His last words still haunted her: _"Remember me, my sweet Valkyrie…"_

Her throat tightened. She wanted to remember him so badly. He had been like a fairytale prince and she was dying to meet him for real. And at the same time she feared that he had only been a dream, a product of her imagination.

She swung up from the bed and noticed that she was wearing white tank-top and white boxer-style long pants. _So, someone had peeled her from her jumpsuit._

She moved at the window on barefoot and took a look outside. There were lower buildings down below, or perhaps all of it was a larger building complex, locating on a riverside. And there was forest beyond the wide river, maybe a town somewhere far beyond the forest. Her room must have been somewhere in the 10th or 12th floor, anyway there was a long way down.

She noticed a neat pile of clean clothes, a towel and some soap and other personal hygiene stuff like a toothbrush and -paste on the table, assuming it was for her. It was a hell of a better service that she had gotten while being trapped by the Hydra. She ran her hand over the things on the table while passing it.

The room was tiny and with only a few steps Emma walked onto the other side to the steel door. There was no door handle on her side of the door. _So, it was a prison cell._

Next she tried the bathroom's door and opened it. And there stood an intimidatingly tall, raven-haired man right in front of her. He lifted his index-finger over his lips as a sign for her to keep quiet. His unexpected presence startled her so utterly that she let out a scream, slamming the door close, stumbling her back against the wall and falling on her arse on the floor.

"I am terribly sorry! I meant not to startle you. You have nothing to fear from me, I swear," the man's voice said through the door, sounding calm and kind and truly sorry.

A freezing sensation went through her forearms like a cold wave but it wasn't painful anymore as her icy claws prepared for a strike, just waiting to come out. His gentle voice played a part of soothing her down and her spikes remained hidden.

Emma pushed herself up from the floor, still scared, confused, feeling trapped but mostly feeling plain stupid. Her first thought was that he must have been another mutant and they were sharing the same bathroom.

"Sorry!" she stammered, rubbing her forearms, leaning her back against the wall. "I… I didn't realize it was taken."

She was only glad that she hadn't caught him taking a dump.

"Could you please open the door?" the man asked.

"Um… No! You take your time in there. I'll wait here."

"Open the door, please. So we can speak face to face. I would do it myself but I cannot."

Emma listened to his voice that sounded awfully familiar and she cautiously stepped back at the door, hesitantly opening it ajar again. The black-haired man gave her a tender smile as she peeked at him. It was not just his voice but he looked familiar somehow too. He wore white t-shirt and black jeans, his raven hair was long but combed back neatly. He had beautiful, green, expressive eyes and a charming, sexy smile that could took a woman's breath away.

"Hello, my dear," Loki said in a gentle voice, his eyes holding hers in a way that made her feeling shy. He fought against the rush of emotions, seeing her physically fine again. The lack of her outer clothing would have made him bashful in front of her if he hadn't already seen her naked. Her tank-top and long-legged panties would have been considered petite underwear by Asgardian standards, baring her slender form and leaving only a little for his imagination.

He had changed his outlooks for something more approachable. He had assumed that emerging there in his own Asgardian clothes might have intimidated her. He wanted her to feel save. "Do not be afraid. I am not going to hurt you."

For some strange reason Emma believed him. She studied his face for a short while puzzled. "You're the man of my dreams," she sighed recalling of seeing him in her dream just last night.

Loki's projection smiled at her even she looked a terrible mess, her head in bandages and dried blood in her golden hair. But she was alive, in one piece, like nothing had never happen to her. "I am glad you think that way."

Emma shook her head embarrassed. "I didn't mean it like that… I… I saw you in my dream…" Then she got even more embarrassed noticing her own meager clothing, being there only in her underwear. Still it covered much more skin than her normal swimming-suit.

"I know." He stepped backward giving her some space inside the small bathroom. There was a simple toilet seat, a sink, and a shower, and just barely enough room for two. "Please, would you come in and close the door."

"Um…" Emma gave him an uneasy grin. It was as if asking her to go firewalking over hot coals. _On the second thought, that hardly would have been a challenge to her at all._ "No way! I am not coming there with you."

"Please. They do not see me, but they see you talking to yourself," Loki said and glanced at the direction of the surveillance camera up in the ceiling. "I will not touch you, you have my word. In fact that would be utterly impossible. I am not really here. See?" he said and waved his arm through the back wall of the toilet room. His whole arm went through the wall.

"Are you a ghost?" Emma gasped bewildered by his illusion, taking note that she couldn't smell him. Smell had always been her strongest sense and usually she paid attention to people's scents, but he had none. It was strange, unnatural. "Am I still dreaming? This is a dream, right?"

"No, this is real, I assure you. What you see is merely a projection of me."

"A projection? Yeah, right… I use it all the time with my friends. It's so much better than WhatsApp."

It was amusing that they were speaking the same language but sometimes he couldn't understand what she was saying.

"I had to see that you are alright, my Valkyrie," Loki said, sadness glimmering in his eyes as he watched her. "Please…" he said asking her to accompany him in the bathroom.

_Valkyrie? _She remembered him calling her by that name in her dream. His voice had been so soothing and kind that she could only imagine of him being the most gracious, tender-hearted and compassionate man on Earth, someone who couldn't ever hurt anyone. No matter how strange it was she felt safe with him, him being the only one who wasn't scaring her. Like she would have been under his spell, Emma stepped into the bathroom and closed the door, watching at him with a bewildered smile like she would have met a long-lost dear friend. It felt like she would have known him for all her life.

"Do I know you? I have this oddest feeling like I know you from somewhere else than just my dream."

"You do. I only wish that you could remember me."

Being unable to hide her admiration she just stared at him. He was so tall and gorgeous. His long upper body looked slender but strong under his tight t-shirt and his firm, well-trained arms were just asking for a hug. He didn't look like a bodybuilder though and that was just a good thing. Emma could only imagine her mom going green with envy if she should have brought a guy like that back home with her. She couldn't have ever thought that a guy like that would have given a girl like her a second look. It was crazy but his friendly behavior made her feeling like a normal person after all she had gone through.

"Yeah, me too. How could I have forgotten someone like you? This is so weird. Are you a mutant, an angel or something?"

"For you, I will be anything you want," Loki said softly, wanting just to touch her, but that wasn't happening in this state. And she would have probably shied away from his touch just like in Greenland. If he had known then what he knew now he wouldn't have ever laid his hand on her.

"A stripper?" Emma blurted out without a second thought and grinned. But then she looked alarmed, regretting for opening her mouth. "Um, that was a joke! Seriously, I was only joking… I'm such an idiot."

Loki grinned back at her kindly. "You say silly things when you are nervous?" he recalled her telling him in the frozen land.

"Yeah, mostly very stupid things. I should shoot myself in the head. Sorry, I'm not normally this much screwed up."

Loki gave her a sad smile. "Please, you do not need to be nervous with me, I promise."

"Okay," she whispered in a dreaming tone watching at him like she would have been still in a dream.

"I am glad you haven't lost our sense of humor. I miss you so. May I see you again this evening?"

"Do you mean like a date?"

"Something like that, yes."

"Um," Emma swallowed a bit unsure. "If we know each other like you said, then tell me something about me that only I know."

A fondly smile flickered in his eyes and Loki heaved a small sigh as though recalling everything she had told him.

"You love chocolate in every form and you hate snakes. You like swimming but even more you enjoy diving. Your special gift saved your life once when you were caught by a current while you were swimming in the sea. You have been living with your mother in a house that your grandparents build. And your grandmother, Emma, was very dear to you. She died when you were 12 years old and you still cherish her memory. Your father's name was Logan but you have never seen him. You do not let people too close to you because… you have been hurt by some really bad people. You fear the darkness that is inside of you, but believe me, my dear, there is nothing to be afraid of. Your body has an unbelievable ability to adapt into the surrounding environments. You developed gills when you were nearly drowning, and just recently you developed claws that you would never ever have to remain under other people's mercy, that you can fight back if that's what it takes. Do not be frightened of your gifts."

Loki spoke softly, seeing how his words astonished her, all kind of emotions sweeping through her and she just stared at him in wonder, the remaining of her uncertainty about him clearing off. He wanted to comfort her and ease her fears and from her eyes he saw that he succeeded. Her claws must have been even more terrifying to her in her current state than before. And he wanted her to trust in that there was nothing wrong with her.

"Not quite convinced yet?" he asked with a more playful smile, lifting an eyebrow. "Well, you are terrible with alcohol; you cannot hold your liquor. And in your earlier years you used to read a bit questionable magazines with your friends… as I recall they were called Cosmopolitans? Picking up some tips for… er… more matured…"

"Alright!" Emma yelped awkwardly, completely astonished by his words. He had convinced her a way earlier with the Logan-part and all the rest of it. "Jeeze! You do know me. And, really… everybody reads those kinds of magazines. I'm not some weird, perv… person…"

Loki smiled apologetically, dropping his gaze for a moment. They had made love so passionately he couldn't ever forget it, and now she couldn't even remember him. It made him sad but he remembered her words; '_there is always hope as long as there's live left'_. _Such a cliché_, but he wanted to believe in it.

"So, do we have a date?" he asked cautiously. It almost felt like he had been courting one of those young girls he met in Damien's home in England.

"Okay. It's a date. But…" She grimaced lightly. "You know all that stuff about me and I don't even know your name. How old are you? Where are you from? Why are you here?"

"I will come to you again tonight and tell you everything. It would be wiser not to say a word to the others that you have seen me. They would not understand. They would try to break us apart."

Emma heard the concern in his voice that caught on her too, remembering again where she was. "Who are the others?"

"They hold me captive, locked up in a cage. This is the only way I am able to see you. Please, do not tell them that you know me. Try to be as cooperative as you can. Do not let them hurt you. And please, remember me, my Valkyrie," Loki said, giving her a gentle smile before he vanished before her eyes in a golden flow.

His disappearance startled her almost as much as his appearance, leaving Emma standing alone in the bathroom. "Hello?" she sighed, puzzled, opening the bathroom door and taking a look into the room. He was gone like a ghost. _He had to be a mutant with some awesome powers if he was able to do that_, she reasoned.

She stared down at her hands bewildered about the things he had told to her about her claws. He had made is sound like she should have been proud of them instead of being afraid of her scary, icy spikes. Whoever he was, he had known her better than she did. And she wanted to know him too.

Then her own reflection in the mirror caught her full attention. She looked different somehow. Her hair was longer, her face looked a bit older than she remembered. _How long had she been captured by her tormentors?_ She wasn't sixteen anymore. Her head was wrapped in white bandages and she noticed a part of her hair been smudged with blood, dry and black-brown now. _What had they done to her?_ Hastily she unwrapped the bandages and looked at herself closer from the mirror, trying to see where all the blood had came from. There were no wound, no scar, nothing that could have told what had happen to her.

She stared a moment at the camera up in the ceiling through the open door. They were watching her every move. That's why the black-haired, hunky guy had wanted to speak with her in the bathroom. He had been so hot that it nearly made her dizzy. _Had she really seen him? Or had she finally lost her mind, became mad after all her sufferings, seeing imaginary things? Surely there was nothing wrong with an imaginary boyfriend like that!_

She wanted to wash off the blood, so she picked up the towel, clothes and stuff from the table and went to the bathroom, taking a shower, peeking every now and then over her shoulder incase the illusional stranger would pop up there again without a warning. She didn't want to be caught naked in the shower by him.


	21. 21 What goes around

Emma had the strangest feeling of déjà vu when she sat at a table, agent Coulson opposite her, his fingers crossed on the table. She kept her hands on her lap, being as far as possible from him. They were sitting in a bigger, bright room that had a large window and a few comfy armchairs near the window. With a quick look she took note there were no cameras. It was a lot nicer room than her cell with light-blue walls, but it didn't make her feel safer.

She had been brought there by two female security officers. They didn't cuff her and Emma went there quietly, but ready to fight back hard if needed. No one touched her and to her that was a good sign. She was still afraid but she knew that she was armed with the icy spikes now like the kind, raven-haired man had told her. She had means to defend herself better than ever. And she had gotten a slight impression that the people around her were a bit afraid of her, giving her the space she needed.

Coulson gazed at her questioningly. She looked better and refreshed, like nothing bad had never happened to her. Her fast recovery was a wonder. Her body had fixed itself, regenerating from severe damages only in a few hours. Even the bone of her skull had been repaired and her hair had grown back. Coulson didn't have to imagine why the Hydra had been so interested of her. And that's what made him worried. He could imagine Hydra wanting her back, perhaps using her DNA for a gene therapy for creating super soldiers.

Her suspicions of Hydra's people infiltrating into the S.H.I.E.L.D. had made him commissioning his own investigations which he had kept hidden from everyone else except from Fury. If she was correct, even close, there wasn't too many to trust. There was truly something strange going on. Coulson had wanted to see the bodies of the agents who died during Emma's outburst in the Helicarrier but three of them had been removed from their morgue without a proper, full autopsy reports.

Coulson had expressed his concerns to Fury who had been cautiously supportive but doubtfully about his case. And director Fury had given one more, actually the last chance for Coulson to try to get Emma Morgan in cooperation with the S.H.I.E.L.D. It would have been a shame to loose someone as potential as she. But one thing was sure, they couldn't let her fall into the hands of the enemy. That's why he had given her a false identity in the papers and she was treaded as if one of their own agents.

Phil Coulson took a softer approach with her, the situation being completely different. He wasn't sure what he was dealing with now. Earlier she had seemed more self-confident and clearheaded, now she was jumpy, timid and unpredictable. And he didn't want her to go pulling out her claws on him.

"How are you feeling today, Emily?"

"Dunno. Messed up, I guess," she answered nervously, glancing around.

"Do you remember what happened to you?"

Emma frowned, looking at him angry but a bit scared. "Of course! Those sadistic bastards tortured me for days! How could I forget something like that?" she said raising her voice.

Coulson nodded, remaining calm. "You remember anything else?"

She gave him a grim glance like a pissed of kid. "Yeah! I'll never let _you_ buy me a drink again, you creep! You drugged me! What for? Did… did you rape me?"

"Of course not! I am a government's agent. We are the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division." He blurted out the name-monster of his agency just being shocked by her misguided accusations. "I'm sorry. We needed to sedate you that we could examine your head injury," Coulson explained, being offended of her thinking so low of him.

"What head injury?"

He took a moment before he continued trying to break the news to her gently. "What I am about to tell you might shock you, but I promise everything will be alright."

"What? Has something bad happened to my mom?"

Phil Coulson found it so odd that she kept wanting to see her mother who she had grown to hate later in her life. He couldn't blame her. He had called for that woman, Aileen Lange (former Morrison), in the morning and asked her to come and see her daughter, but the mother had refused to see Emma, saying that she didn't have a daughter with that name Emma or Emily. When Coulson had demanded the woman at least speak with Emma in the phone, she had hung up not saying another word. He had called her again but as soon as he had opened his mouth the mother had hung up again. In his experience, he could tell that Emily's name meant more to the woman that she had claimed but the reason to her denial remained a mystery. He found it hard to believe that a daughter being only a mutant could have made her mother abandoning her so coldly.

"No, your mother is fine. It is about you. What happened to you... what those people did to you… all that happened eight years ago. You escaped from that place and lived your life free." He kept a small pause for her to take it in. "Unfortunately yesterday you injured your head, severely. It was an accident. You have lost a part of your memory. Those eight years are erased from your mind. We don't know for how long. The memories could come back, in time."

Emma stared at him speechless, without blinking, or moving at all as if she'd had frozen. "What?"

"As I said, everything will be alright. We like to help you, if you would let us."

Coulson's mobile phone gave a quiet peep as he received a call and he glanced at the caller from the screen, and put the mobile back to his pocket.

_Oh god, eight years!_ There was a lot digesting to do. It felt like he would have been telling her a stupid lie. But things were starting to make some sense; the tall man she had seen in her dream and met in the bathroom, her own reflection in the mirror, her head in bandages, and the blood. Emma touched her head. "Yesterday? Then how come..?" Her frightened eyes turned at the agent.

"You have nothing to fear from me. We do know about your mutant abilities. And thanks to your powers you are still here. Luckily you are a fast healer. It is a gift, not a curse. Don't you ever think anything else of your powers."

Emma said nothing even Coulson gave her a time to come up with something to say, so he continued chatting. "It must have not been easy to grow up without a father. I lost mine when I was nine years old. I can't say I remember much about him but when he was gone it left a hole in my life. I knew something was missing."

Emma stared at the agent, confused about him opening up like that. "I've never seen my father. Me and my mom, we did just fine by ourselves. I guess you don't miss something you've never had."

A knocking from the door startled Emma a bit. She was being jumpy about everything, being afraid of her own shadow. A short-haired woman looking like a nurse in a blue dress stepped in with a breakfast tray. She placed the full tray on the table and left. Oatmeal porridge, some bread, orange juice and a cup of hot chocolate.

Coulson pushed the tray towards Emma and got up from his seat, glancing at the window like checking up the weather. The clouds were clearing off outside. "I asked them to bring you some breakfast. Please, help yourself. And, don't worry. There are no drugs this time, I promise. We'll talk later after you've finished. Please excuse me. I need to make a phone call."

"There was a man," Emma said with a quiet voice as Coulson was leaving the room. "A tall and dark... he talked to me, he showed me things. It was like magic. I saw him in my dream. It felt so real. I don't know who he is. I don't know is he even real."

Coulson glanced at her over his shoulder, having a pretty good hunch who she was talking about. "I'm sorry, I don't know who that could be. Perhaps it was just a dream. Your mind might be playing tricks on you trying to fill in the lost memories."

She stared at the agent doubtfully, recalling the stranger's warnings no to tell them anything about him. "Yeah, maybe."

Not really having any appetite, Emma forced herself to eat some of the breakfast as the agent went to the corridor making a phone call. She couldn't believe that eight years of her life would have been just wiped out. But she knew one thing. That man, the fairytale prince, he was significant, he wasn't just a dream. She wasn't imagining him. She had to remember him.

She wanted to go back home soon to her mom, thinking that mom must have been worried sick for her, but something didn't feel right about that thought. The agent had said that her mom was fine, then why she wasn't there with her now.

Feeling like an orphan in a strange world, Emma sat alone, eating and pondering about her dream and the mystery man. At least he had been there for her. She couldn't wait for the night to see him again. He had promised to tell her everything. _They were having a date! Why was she being so excited about it? She didn't even know him. Why did she trust him?_

Another knocking came from the door and a red-haired young woman peeked in, taking a glance as if looking for someone. "Hey, is agent Coulson here?" Natasha Romanoff asked from Emma.

Emma didn't recognize Natasha, she only started at the woman puzzled and a bit alarmed. If she had remembered agent Romanoff, her reaction would have been a quite different. "He went making a phone call," Emma said in a quiet voice.

"Well, I actually came to see you while I was on my way to see my friend," Natasha said and stepped in, wearing her civil clothes, blue jeans and a brown leather jacket, and carrying a closed plastic bag, same kind where they kept their evidences.

"Why? Do I know you?"

Natasha gave her a surprised smile, her brows knitting. Their latest encounter hadn't ended up well and she had 15 stitches on her left arm to remind her about it. "You don't remember me?" she asked doubtfully.

Emma shrugged innocently. "Should I?"

"Have you taken another blow in your head?"

"I guess so..."

"Anyway, I came to bring you this," Natasha said, giving her the sealed plastic bag that contained the blue smurf doll that had been examined and found safe.

Emma stared at the blue doll baffled as Natasha laid it on the table in front of her. She glanced at the red-haired woman like asking was this a joke. "Am I a bit too old for playing with dolls? I don't even like the smurfs. They are creepy, blue jerks… who have only one girl in their village... like what the fuck?"

"Okay, I'll take it away if you don't want it. You seemed so fond of it earlier," Natasha said and was leaving with the blue doll.

"Wait!" Emma stopped her and stood up. If that blue stupid thing had meant something to her earlier she wanted it back. "I can take it. Apparently... I have forgotten everything from the past eight years," she said with a doubtful voice, having a hard time to believe that herself.

Natasha frowned looking at her mouth open. "Are you serious?"

"That's what the agent man told me. I don't know."

"Damn!" said the red-head with a confused expression. "Then you really don't remember me," she said but thought it was wiser not to say anything else.

"Were we like friends or something?" Emma asked.

"More _'of something'_," Natasha said and put the bag back on the table and walked to the door. "I'm sorry," she said before stepping out.

Emma hated that everybody seemed to know her but she knew no one, or simply didn't remember them.

She drank the hot chocolate and stared at the blue doll that was sitting on the table and staring back at her with a smug grin like it would have known more than she did. "What are you grinning about?" she grunted to the doll.

She put down her cup and picked up the doll and took it out from the bag, ripping the plastic bag open. It was a stupid silly blue doll, yet soft and huggable. Emma studied it, stroking the soft fuzzy surface with her fingers. It made her smile and she smelled the doll. The scent of it was good, peculiar and masculine, slightly overran by the smell of plastic. She was certain that she knew that smell, and she sniffed it again.

_Divine..._ Strong… _Safe…_

She knew that smell. It made her hormones purring. It made her warm inside and feeling safe. She smelled it once more.

_"__Remember me..."_

Heated emotions filled her heart and her head. She remembered a fervent kiss, feeling his lips on her lips, tasting his mouth in hers, feeling his bare skin against her skin, his body on hers, the intensity of the passionate emotions frightening her innocent mind.

_"__...my sweet Valkyrie..."_

She remembered his soft touch and it made her tremble. She remembered his illusions mixing up with the reality, making love to him on a beach in a sunset, the pain and the pleasure. The feelings so powerful that those made her cry. It was as if she would have been turning into a whole different person, the memories of her adult years re-entering into her consciousness a little by little.

She recalled laughing with him, running with him holding hands. The fear being caught made her heart racing faster. The elevator and the gun firing, she looking at him when the pain hit her head and everything went black.

Her head ached and she felt dizzy. The doll dropped down from her hands on the table and Emma staggered on the corner of the room to a small waste basket, throwing up everything she had eaten into the bin. Kneeling over the waste basket, she felt like her head would have been broken again. The forgotten memories were streaming back into her shattered mind, flowing like smooth liquid filling a half full bowl. And she feared that the bowl couldn't hold them all.

She sat on her knees on the floor holding on her aching head with shaking hands sobbing. She remembered him. Suddenly the fairytale prince had a name. _Loki!_ Emma covered her mouth not to cry aloud. Tears were pouring from her eyes and she gasped with the overwhelming sensation of recalling him. It was like a huge brain orgasm, everything else returning into her mind slowly in a state of an afterglow. _"Loki!"_ she whispered his name, covering her mouth. _She remembered him!_

The nausea made her vomit again, but out came only some bitter stomach acids. Everything had returned to her so fast that she had a lot digesting to do, fitting the pieces together that seemed to make no sense. She pushed the waste basket aside and rolled to sit in the corner leaning her back against the wall pulling her knees into her lap. The memories and feelings had felt so strange at first but they started to find their own places inside her mind.

His projection she had seen in the bathroom made perfect sense now. He had come to see her. He had been so compassionate and charming that if he would have approached her like that in the first time they met in Greenland, she would have fallen in love with him on that very moment. She smiled a bit, knowing that he would have charmed even her sixteen year-old-self. Seeing his illusion made her grateful that he was alright since their escape had gone horribly wrong.

Then slowly the cruel facts re-entered into her mind; she didn't have a home to go anymore, no mother to turn to and Loki and she were both caught. All that made her cry as she was re-living all her former struggles once again. She couldn't stop it.

She wasn't sure how long she had been sitting there on the floor weeping when she heard the door opening and closing as agent Coulson entered the room.

"Emily, are you alright?" Phil Coulson asked with a concerned tone, finding her in the corner.

She remembered him now too. _The agent of the fucking… Hydra? No, the S.H.I.E.L.D!_

_The name is Emma, you lying prick!_ Emma wiped her eyes on the back of her palms, her expression turning back being a confused and scared little girl before she faced him. That's what she felt like even she was returning back to herself.

She took a breath and did her best to control her quickened breathing, realizing that she might have an advantage over them if they wouldn't know that she had regain her memory back. The agent had lied to her about many things including Loki, so she was going to do the same. "I… I felt sick on my stomach. Maybe I ate too much too fast. I haven't eaten a decent food in weeks."

"How's your head?"

"A bit dizzy, it hurts a little… but it's okay. Everything is so fucking weird," she said and got up on her trembling feet leaning against the wall.

"You need a hand?"

"No!" she yelped for his attempt to help her. "Stay away!"

"Alright," Coulson said lifting his hands up, not going anywhere near her. "Did you remember something new?"

"I think… mom is not home anymore," she whispered weakly.

_So, her memory was slowly returning_, he thought, a bit worried of how much she remembered. "Would you like to talk about that?"

She only shook her head and went back sitting at the table and picked the doll in her arms like a scared kid. "Some woman brought this to me. I don't really like smurfs. It's just that this is soft to hold… Um… She was looking for you, I guess. She was nice."

"Yes, I met her." Ms. Morgan had passed the test Coulson had set up for her; her authentic reaction to agent Romanoff short visit had confirmed her partly amnesia.

The smell of her vomit made Coulson feeling sick too. He took the waste basket and took it out into the corridor leaving it to someone else's problem. "Er, is there anything else you would like to eat?" he asked as he returned, closing the door. He believed that taking care of her basic needs would be the key to regain her trust.

"Do you think I could have a large coke, a burger and fries?" she asked timidly and glanced down at her empty cocoa cup. "Oh, and some more chocolate? I'm craving for chocolate."

"I see what I can do."

"Thanks. My mom used to say that chocolate makes my ass fat and gives me pimples, but…" Then she looked sad again, the memory of returning to her home that wasn't her home anymore sending her on the verge of tears. "That bitch… she abandoned me? I have no home. What am I suppose to do now?"

Coulson bought her act that wasn't completely fake, feeling pity for her. "We can help you to get through this, Emily."

"Why are you being so kind to me?" Emma gave him a hesitating look. "Um… I was kind of wondering what you gain from this, like personally."

"I'm not planning to gain anything for helping you. It is a part of my job."

"Oh good!" she sighed, relieved, of course all an act. "You got me a bit worried that you were looking for some sort of _sugar daddy_ arrangement," she said innocently, enjoying of seeing the agent getting a bit awkward with. "Not that there's anything wrong with you. I'm sure you're alright for you age. It's just that I'm not that kind of girl."

Phil Coulson shook his head bemused. _What was wrong with the young ladies in these days? Was everything about sex?_

"I'm… going to get you that burger-meal now."

**… …**

Playing her part perfectly, Emma talked a while with the agent. Coulson cautiously suggesting for her to join the S.H.I.E.L.D and she hesitating, coming up with all sort of excuses not to, at least not yet, enjoying her free burger-meal and chocolate milkshake he had ordered for her.

When Coulson was escorting her back to her little cell, telling that they would find her better quarters, they came upon Natasha and Clint Barton. Hawkeye sat in a wheelchair looking like he had gone thought hell. Natasha was giving him a lift, pushing his chair along the corridor.

Emma recognized the poor archer, a part of her glad that he was still alive, trying hard to not look at him like she'd had known him.

Clint Barton also recognized her as they were coming closer and gave her a small triumphant smile. "So, are you being on our side now? I heard we finally caught your boyfriend."

Emma did her best to act surprised; being very glad he had asked that. She was going to make a big scene. "What? Do I have a boyfriend?"

"Um, he doesn't know what he's talking about," Natasha said, giving a shove on Clint's arm.

"Ouch! What did I say?"

Emma gazed at the people puzzled, turning at Coulson, the rest was coming out naturally. "What's he talking about? Do I have a boyfriend?"

"No!"

"What he meant by that, that you've caught him?" she asked again, anxiety returning into her voice and behavior. She knew perfectly well how messed up she had been after running away from her tormentors years ago and now the real worry for Loki gave her extra boost into her little act.

Coulson scratched his head, seemingly unhappy. He would have hated to tell her about Loki and disturb her already vulnerable state of mind. "It's nothing..."

Emma raised the stakes, moving a bit restlessly as if under provocation. "Tell me. I want to know! If there is someone who knows me, who knows the real me, I need to know," she said nearly yelling. "It is him, isn't it? The man in my dream? Where is he? I want to see him!"

"Please, calm down, Emily!"

She walked away from him backwards looking like he had turned into a monster. "No! Don't touch me! Why are you not telling me? How am I suppose to trust you if you're not telling me anything? I want to see him!"

Clint Barton was struck speechless and he glanced at Natasha as Coulson was trying to calm the girl down. "What's wrong with her?" he asked whispering.

"She got shot in the head and lost her memory. She's been blissfully ignorant about Loki until you mentioned him," Natasha whispered back at him.

"Oh, sorry!" Clint gave Coulson an apologetic grimace and saw it wiser to leave the sight, Natasha pushing his wheelchair away from the scene of action.

The battle of wills had continued a while, Emma adding the steam and Coulson trying to make her see reason. She was curled up into a corner, sitting and crying, and Coulson had called the security officers. He stood in front of her giving her some space and squatted down. "Please, understand that it wouldn't do you any good to see this man. He is..." He thought how to put it down nicely. "It was his fault that you were injured. He is not a good company. He has been treating you badly, and I would hate to see you getting hurt again."

_Goddamn, the man was good lying to her about Loki and about everything else_, Emma thought, squeezing in her arms around her knees. She lifted her tear-filled eyes at him. "I don't believe you. You said it was an accident that I've got hurt. I don't have my mom anymore. So… If you'll not let me see him, then, just put a bullet in my head or leave me alone!"

**... ...**

Loki had quickly grown to hate his plain cage that was lacking of stimulation. He had entertained himself by fantasizing of decapitating the half of the Asgard's population and the whole bunch of the S.H.I.E.L.D agents. He had been trying to find the weak spot of his prison that could give in, without luck yet.

He had been sinking into the darkness of his mind facing his virulent inner demons, feeling like the battle was already lost before it had even begun. Those lies he had been fed his whole life; that he was Odin's son; that he was born to be a king; that he had a loving family. Odin had never loved him. It had been only Frigga who had truly loved him as if he'd been her own flesh and blood and seen him worthy of the throne. Frigga had made him a king, giving him Asgard while Odin had been in his slumber. But the betrayal of the warrior three, lady Sif and Heimdall still gnawed at him. He had been sitting on the throne of Asgard and they had shown no respect towards him even the line of succession had fallen rightfully to him.

He kept thinking had they known of his true parentages, had Odin told them what he was. Heimdall had probably known it from the very beginning. Upon pain of treason they had gone against him just to bring Thor back. It stunned him when he realized that he had never had so loyal friends. And Thor, well, Thor had always though of himself being better than anyone else, worthy for the throne by birth, that self-righteous fool, who was now cringing in front of some mortals as if he would have suddenly lost his entire royal Asgardian legacy.

What seemed to silence that vicious circle of stirring emotions was when Loki had been thinking about his time with Emma. He had known her only so short time, and it made no sense, but in that time she had made him feeling himself being more worthy. He hardly knew himself wavering in his irrational emotions. Devotion had never been in his nature. She had simply been fun to be with and an adorable, sweet, little lover. He realized that she had been the light to his darkness, the bright beacon that had subtly guided him to the safer harbor. And even Thor was doing everything in his powers to get them back home, Loki didn't feel like going back as long as there was even a tiny chance for him to be with Emma.

At last night he had managed to reach a connection into her shattered mind through her dreams. She had been in a state of mind of a child, a teenager, being afraid, lost and fragile after the torments she had faced years ago as if it had just happened yesterday. It had been his time to guide her, take her away from those horrors, take her to safety, and walked with her along the paths of illusional Asgard.

He had wanted to make sure she was safe and alright by visiting her with his projection in the morning. Her sweet innocence made him smile. She had been like those teens he had met in England in Damien's home. But he wanted Emma back being herself. And he was sure she would learn to know him again.

Loki sat on a long cushioned bench that apparently served as a bed, his right leg on the bench his knee bent, his right elbow leaning to his knee, his back against the wall. There was nothing to do for killing time. He was just waiting for the night that he could visit Emma again.

Loki's attention was stolen by the sound of calm footsteps approaching his cell and he glowered at the incomer under his dark brows.

Agent Coulson stalked his way to the cell and greeted Loki with a seemingly annoyed frown. "Oh hell," Coulson heaved a sigh like he had come there telling some bad news, and it got Loki a bit concerned, dropping his foot on the floor. Coulson lifted his hand before Loki said a word and gave the prisoner a stern glance. "Don't make me regret this, Loki! I mean it!" the agent said and glanced at the door over his shoulder.

A metallic sounds as if something clinking and clanking was dragged over the hard concrete floor made Loki curious. And pushing himself up from the bench, he moved next to the wall, taking a better look. The sight nearly caught his breath. Emma walked slowly in front of his cell, her hands in handcuffs and being shackled with two long chains from her waist and wrists. She was escorted by two soldiers who fastened the chains to the floor into small rings so she wouldn't have a chance to wander off from her place. Being from five steps away from his cell and remaining there thanks to her shackles, Emma lifted her blue eyes up at him, her head slightly tilted to right, looking like she wouldn't be sure who he was.

A thin, gentle smile played across Loki's face as he beheld her through the glass wall, but seeing her chained like an animal made him feeling bad for her. That and all what she had gone through already. "Emma?" he said with a soft voice, not really caring about the crowd.

Coulson gave a short glance at Loki. "Her name's Emily," he corrected and turned at Emma, getting a feeling that this was a bad idea after all. He had yielded into her demands, thinking that maybe meeting up with Loki could have been an eye-opener for her, but he wasn't so sure about it anymore. "You have 10 minutes."

"Ten? That is not enough!" Emma said, upset but timidly.

"Want to make it five?" Coulson asked and Emma shook her head. "Give us a shout if you want to get out earlier. This is your last chance to see each other, so better use it wisely," Coulson said talking to both of them, checking the time from his wrist watch. Then he left with the soldiers.

Emma returned her gaze at the man behind the prison wall. "Hey," she said quietly sounding small and innocent. "They told me that you are my boyfriend. They also said that you're a bad man I should have nothing to do with. Is it true?"

Loki leaned against the wall, his both palms on the glass as he kept watching at her questioningly, looking lost. "Do you not remember me, my dear?"

When the agents were finally gone, Emma dared to give him a tiny smile. "How could I forget someone like you, big guy? You were the first thing that returned to my mind. You can't believe all the crazy things I had to do just to get down here to see you. These people here will never trust me again."

Loki heaved a relieved sigh, but had a pained expression. "Oh, we have to stop seeing each other like this," he made an ironic remark with a small smile. "Can you forgive me, Emma? I thought I lost you for forever. I am so sorry. You were hurt… because of me."

"No. It wasn't your fault, Loki. Maybe I was a bit messed up after the shot, but I'm fine now."

"Without your abilities you would have died, again," Loki said sounding desperately worried.

Emma swallowed. She had not gone there to make him sad and blaming himself. "At least something good came up with being a freak. Loki, I'm alright. Thank you for not giving up on me. I saw you in my dream, I heard your voice. When you came to see me this morning that was the sweetest thing you've done. Some memories are still a bit blurry but I remember almost everything." She tried to take a step closer to him but the chains held her back. She would have so wanted to touch him. "We almost made it out from here. Oh, Loki, I'm sorry I screwed it up."

"Please, do not apologize! I am the one who should be sorry."

"I must be crazy but I have no regrets with you. You are the best thing ever happened to me."

Loki stared at her with a compassionate smile, shaking his head a bit. "Yes, I can see that. Your affection towards me; it's… um, it really suits you," he took note ironically.

Emma glanced down at her shackles and gave him a small, naughty grin. _Talking about some serious bondage!_ "You like this, huh? This feels kind a kinky. So, don't get used to seeing me like this!"

"If it would be up to me, I would keep you chained in my bed like that all the time."

Emma shot him a bewildered yet curious glance and Loki answered it with a tiny chuckle and so did she.

"Have they hurt you?" Loki asked then simply, the smiles fading away from their faces, the gravity of their situation beginning to occur to them.

"No. This guy Coulson still wants me to join them."

Loki gave that a short thought, casting a glance to the camera up in the ceiling. "Then perhaps you should join in their team."

"Why? Why would you say that?"

"I am not much help for you from here. Maybe in time you could gain an access down here and," he said, leaning his whole forearm against the wall, "we could carry on our little liaison."

"Hm, I never thought of it that way," Emma said playfully but turned then serious. "That is if you're still going to be here when that time comes. Thor said he's going to take you back to Asgard and that it is up to Odin to decide your fate."

Loki dropped his gaze for a moment, realizing that Thor might have told her things he would have preferred to keep hidden such as his attempt to destroy the Frost Giants. More than that he wouldn't have ever wanted her to know about his weakest moment when he chose to let go of his whole existence. The only wretched action, that he felt casting a giant shameful shadow over him, making him looking like a desperate, weak coward, unworthy for even the scraps of joy he had felt with her. He had let her so close to him that he didn't want to lie to her. _He had let her too close_, he realized.

His green doubtful eyes returned looking at her. "What more did he tell you?"

Emma wouldn't have wanted to say it but thought that there shouldn't be secrets between them. "He mentioned what happened with the Jotunheim…"

His face turned cold, nearly expressionless. "And?"

"And," Emma was quiet, watching at him compassionately. "He had his own version of how it all went. Look, I don't care what you have done in the past. I don't need to know if you don't want to tell me, but if you do I will listen. You are not alone. I just want to be with you."

Loki snorted, his darker thoughts taking a tighter grip of him again. "Emma, you were the last person I expected to patronize me!"

"Loki, I'm not!"

Loki's eyes were glimmering with tears as he let out a long agonized groan. "You do realize I would have destroyed my own entire race? If Thor wouldn't have stopped me, there wouldn't be the realm of the Jotuns anymore!"

She could hear the pain in his voice and she hesitated to speak. "Then we would have probably never met."

"No, we would have not." Loki straitened out his posture drawing back from the wall a bit, staring at her with a solemn, a bit disdaining look she hadn't ever seen on him. _She should have known the truth told by him from the very beginning._ He took a shivering breath before continuing. "I fought with Thor. I would have probably killed him if I would have had a chance. Thor broke the Rainbow Bridge to save the Frost Giants knowing it would destroy our connection to the other realms. In the aftermath of our battle I was just barely hanging on above the collapsing wormhole. Odin had that same look in his eye as he watched down at me, as you have now. I would have saved us from the war against the Jotuns but he despised me and my efforts to secure our peace. When I looked into his eyes I knew then he never loved me, I knew he never will. And I chose to let go with a hope that I would release them from my existence. I embraced the eternity, but it sent me here instead… into that barren, freezing hell where I met you." He voice was grim, full of torment and deep penitence.

Tears rolled down on Emma's cheeks. "I'm sorry…" she whispered.

"You are sorry?" Loki swallowed hard, a part of him hating that she showed so much understanding towards him, when he was starting to feel like he was being unworthy for her love. He hated that feeling. He hated the fact that she had become the only thing he was afraid to loose.

"You are an awfully lot sorry about everything, aren't you? I plotted to murder my true father and I would have killed everyone of my kind. I tried to kill my brother. I placed Frigga in danger by sending Laufey in Asgard…" His voice trembled with that thought. Frigga could have been killed by the Frost Giants, he realized it now, and it stung his heart. "I… I hurt and stabbed your friends. I slaughtered a few handfuls off mortals in front of your eyes. I hurt you. You keep getting hurt because of me… And… and… you say; _you are sorry_. Why? Are you sorry on my behalf? Are you sorry that I spread destructions and ruin everywhere I go? And do not lie to me! I have been fed lies my whole life!" he cried out, his voice turning louder and angrier as he kept going as though confessing all his sins.

He was slowly beginning to realize the gravity of his own actions and it pained him, the guilty feelings seeking out a target to throw at because it felt too hard to carry them by himself. He had had too much time to think it over and over again. And the thought that he had dragged her down with him and nearly gotten her killed was something he couldn't deal with.

Emma fell speechless listening to him. It was as if he had turned into a whole different man. "I wouldn't lie to you. Why are you talking like this?" she asked with a small voice.

Loki noticed the door opening and the pair of soldiers coming in. It seemed their short, precious time was over already. He couldn't tell where his anger and scorn were coming from, but it certainly wasn't meant for her. He felt hurt but not because of her. He wanted to tell her that he would have gone happily through all of his sufferings if it had led him to meeting her again. Instead, he heard himself saying to her: "Because I am the god of mischief. You thought you know me, huh? I am the monster who parents tell their children about at nights."

Emma gasped nearly crying. "Please, stop saying that. You're not a monster. Not to me."

Loki found himself on the verge of tears as well. "I wish I would have never met you…" _So, that he couldn't have ever gotten her hurt._

"Time's up!" agent Coulson informed shortly. It was only then when Emma noticed him emerging next to her. The soldiers were untying her chains from the floor.

"No, we are not done yet!" she told to the men in dismay.

Loki looked down at her behind the glass wall. It broke his heart to see her like this. They were both caught already and the future didn't seem to hold any better days for them. Perhaps it would have been simply more merciful to let her go while she was still alive. Even if it meant he would have to break her heart. She would grow over it and learn to hate him. Everyone else had. "I think we are done. Let's face it, Emma. We were never truly meant to be together, you and I. We had just a bit of fun. That's all."

A small anger flared within her. It was as though he didn't understand a damn thing. "What? Why are you doing this?"

He gave her a small pitying smirk, a trace of cruelty in his gaze. He had always known how to lie. And for once in his life he would lie for someone else's sake. "Please, do not tell me, you thought it was love we had? You knew what I was from the beginning. Did you naively believe that if you would love me enough I would change? That I would take you away from all of your horrors to a world beyond the stars? You were so easy, my ingenuous pet. You were so desperately seeking someone to see you and accept you with your mutant abilities that you fell for the first one who laid eyes on you. If you would have had even a half of a decent mother in your life you would have known to stay away from someone like me. And the claws… oh yes, I gave them to you! Consider it as a gift from a Frost Giant!"

Coulson frowned, not sure what was going on between the two. But he didn't like it what he heard. "It's time. Let's go!"

Loki's words had been like a mean slap in the face. Looking shocked Emma gazed at him with teary eyes and bit her teeth together. She felt her throat tightening as she held back crying and tried to pull herself free from the shackles of the armed agents. It wasn't helping so she resorted to tougher means, accepting the pain and protruding her claws, letting out a cry with her icy blades making an appearance. "I said… we're not done here!" she rasped in a silent, pained voice, glaring at the agents who took a step back and aimed their weapons straight at her.

That made Loki's malevolent act crumble, him being worried for her and he couldn't stop himself for saying her name. "Emma, stop!"

"Welcome back, Ms. Morgan,_"_ agent Coulson said calmly as if making note that she had regained her memory. For such a calm guy he had his gun pointing at her faster she could have thought. "Now, stand down or you are forcing us to take action!"

Emma ignored the agents and stared Loki again, the tormenting sensation in her hands growing away. "Was that the absolutely worst you could think of?" she barely managed to say, telling him the exact words he had said to her in Greenland. And she could see it in his eyes that he was already sorry of his words. He failed to conceal his true feelings for a small moment as she had called his bluff with her claws.

"So, you fucked up big time in Asgard? No one's perfect. Not even you and you're pretty damn close. You must be hurt and angry but don't take it out on me!" Emma spoke to him through her tears with a trembling voice and took a long breath. "And I'm not a kid, so stop treading me like one! Don't lie to me! It's not that I would have expected you to marry me. I just happened to like you. They will take me away from here, I don't know where. If this is to be our last goodbye, I don't want to remember it like this. If I meant nothing to you, that's fine. That's just bloody, freaking perfect! I can live with that. But I'm not going to forget you now, Loki. I care for you too damn much. And, you can't simply be that much of an asshole that you would want me to remember you just so you could abandon me like my mother did…"

"Emma, do not make this worse!" Loki tried to stop her pouring out her heart. It was painful enough for him already.

She pointed her right hand's claws at him. "No! I'm not done! I'm not the one who's naive here, that's you. If you wouldn't be so fucking blind you would see that there are people around you who love you, no matter what!"

The god of mischief had been prepared to give her hell, to hurt and deceive her to turn away from him, but she had defeated him in his own little game. She had taken his hurtful intentions just as calmly Frigga would have and tossed them back at him with interest. And he couldn't help but wonder _did she truly love him?_

Loki dropped his vicious act, his harsh expression melting away and turning to a sad, compassionate smile, telling her more than his words; that he was sorry; that he did care for her and he just wanted to be by her side. "I cannot fool you, can I, my Valkyrie?" he asked, his voice gentle and full of sorry as he leaned against the glass wall.

Emma shook her head, tears running freely over her cheeks, her claws returning back in. "Hasn't anyone told you that you're a damn poor liar?"

_That had been the first time!_ Loki let out a tiny frustrated laugh. The tears he had been holding back brimmed in his eyes and escaped when he blinked. It hurt him to see when the soldiers were dragging her away. "I would lie if I say that you meant nothing to me. Farewell, Emma Morgan, until we will meet again," he sighed, his breathing quivering.

"Bye, Loki, my lovely god of mischief," she said and gave him a small smile. "You know, I set up a date with a man of my dreams today. He's better show up there or I don't know what I'm going to do without him!"

They beheld one another until she was out of his sight. Loki swallowed hard seeing her moving through the doorway. "Is he worth of your love?" he shouted after her.

"He is worth much more than that!" was her answer before the door shut close between them.

After she was gone, the god of mischief was left dwelling alone with his bleak thoughts. Loki took support from the wall, pressing his forehead against the coldness of the glass, closing his eyes in crushing regret and an ache in his heart. He should have told her so much more from his heart, and not those lies that were only meant to hurt her.

When finally being back in the solitude of her own cell, Emma lost the battle against the overwhelming cry, dropping down on the floor on her knees and letting the pain out, crying aloud like a child. She could have never thought that one day she would care for someone this much that it actually hurt. She just wished that he would be there with her that night. His plain illusion would have done more than well.

Agent Coulson had left her alone, for pity sake she assumed. He hadn't asked a thing from her even he had realized she remembered everything again. She wouldn't had have strength left to be questioned anyway.

At that night, Emma took her matters and covers from her bed and closed herself into the tiny bathroom. There she lied alone away from the gazes of the surveillance camera, praying he would come like he had promised.

After some time she discovered that she wasn't completely alone. Loki emerged in front of her as a projection. He lied down by her side and they talked, asked for and showed forgiveness and said those things that left unsaid earlier and corrected the things that had been said wrong, just wishing to be able to hold and embrace one another. Physically Loki lied on his long, soft bench in his cell but in spirit he was there by her side.

A perfect illusion of an Asgardian, tropical beach in a sunset-alike state around them was setting them a far away from the reality. A turquoise-blue serene sea, the white sand, palm trees and orange sky above them; a peaceful small bay he had once found while roaming around the land with Thor.

Emma listened in compassion and quietly when Loki poured his heart out to her, telling her about his failed attempt to end his life in Asgard. He couldn't remember the last time he had been so painfully honest with himself. He was certain that his action found no understanding among the Asgardians, the warrior race to whom the gates of Valhalla was open only to those who had died an honorable death. His action that every Asgardian would have considered as an act of cowardness found only empathy from her. She wasn't judging him, not even criticizing his false decisions and there had been quite a few of them. She only listened when he talked, and he talked a long while.

After nearly loosing her Loki had finally begun to realize that his actions had consequences, and maybe not all of his mischievous tricks had been harmless fun.

When done with talking Loki laid still watching at the illusional orange Asgardian sky above them, a strange calmness in his heart. He felt peaceful and yet uncertain at the same time. Warm emotions swept over him, reflecting from his face as he turned towards her. "Do you love me?" he asked then quietly, that uncertainty in his gaze.

Emma was lying on her back looking at him with loving eyes. He had said he was sorry of his horrible words in so many different ways that she could only love him. "Would I be fool if I'd say yes?"

Loki flashed a lopsided grin. "Evidently."

"Then… I love you, Loki," she said softly and waited a while him returning the words, her smile becoming a bit awkward as he kept watching at her looking more or less surprised and thoughtful. "Um… it's your cue to say… something… Anything?"

"Hm…" Loki bit his tongue between his lips and gave her a glance. "I am… honored," he teased.

"Oh jeeze!" Emma sighed face-palming herself awkwardly. _Oh, for fuck's sake, what a jerk! What was she going to do with him?_

Loki grinned at her fondly, his dimples growing. "Forgive me, please. It is just that you are so sweet when you get awkward," he said gently, staring into her eyes when their gazes met again. "I love you too. It is irrational. I cannot explain it, but I really do love you, Emma." A darker thought past his mind and he couldn't held it back. "I wish that I could offer you more than only these illusions. You were right, about everything. And I cannot bear the thought how cruelly your love and loyalty towards me have been tested already. My dear, you must be mad for staying by my side after all this."

"They say that, it takes one to know one," she grinned back at him. She was happy that they were together again at least in some level and teasing each other gently once more. And the way he had said he loved her melt her again. "So, how old are you, really?" she asked recalling their earlier conversation when they had been setting up the dates.

Loki put his arm under his head and swallowed. "According to the Midgardian calendar I am1050 years old."

"Um…?" Emma gawped and rolled on her side, leaning to her elbow. "You are kidding me, right?"

"No. Asgardians and Jotuns have a long lifespan compared to mortals," he explained but fell silence realizing it now too; he was going to live a painfully lot longer than she.

Emma shook her head and let out a confused laugh. "Damn! I knew I liked a bit older men, but… Wow! Blowing out all the candles on your birthday cake must be fun. You know you don't look a day older than 1000."

Loki let out a soft chuckle, turning on his side and imitating her position, being face to face with her. "Oh, you too look younger than you claim to be," he admitted and made a quick calculation. "I swear I thought you were 17 when we met."

Emma grinned at him knitting her brows. "And yet you kissed me?" she asked in a disapproving way. "And you we willing to have sex with me thinking that I was underage? What kind of kinky old man are you?"

Loki bit his lips. "Well, my age converted into mortal's years, I would be… roughly about twenty."

"Oh?" she grimaced. "So, you are actually younger than me? Oh boy! But you are not a minor, right? I can't keep dating a minor!"

"I am most certainly not." Loki shook his head amused with a sweet grin. "Is it typical for mortals to get tangled with petty details? A man who is 1025 years older than you would be fine? One who is only a few years younger than you and that would be a disaster?"

"Well, yeah. For my excuse I have to say that you look much more mature. I would say 26, at least."

"Oh, thank you, I guess. But the comparison of our ages is scarcely that straightforward. You do realize I cannot be compared to any mortal of that age. Or to any mortal. There are no men like me."

"Well, you're a damn right about that. You're over 1000 and I'm still older than you? That doesn't feel right. What would your mother say about us?"

Loki grinned finding it sweet and yet awkward she brought Frigga into his conversation. "When we met her in Greenland she said that you are lovely and she encouraged me to pay court to you."

Emma looked a bit shocked. "Oh? Did she also tell you to sleep with me?"

A playful smile lifted the corners of his perfect mouth. "Not exactly. That was all my own idea. And your mother? What would have she said about us?"

Emma grinned, she couldn't help herself. _Oh god! He had made her a cougar. That should be her new mutant name. Her father had been called Wolverine so why not carry on the animal theme in the family?_ "I can imagine her saying; _Attagirl!_ But my grandmother would have slapped the both of us around the ears for this. She was an old-fashioned lady. She would have loved you but as far as intimacy goes we would have been lucky if she would have let us holding hands."

For momentarily forgetting that they weren't really close to each other, she placed her hand over his and it went through his. Sadness reflected from both of their faces with the realization that they couldn't even touch one another. "Loki, what are we going to do? They will send me to some campus if I'm willing to start their training. And if I'm not…"

"Do not be downhearted, my dear. Please, do not give up on us. This war is far from over. We will beat them together," Loki assured.

"War? I don't want to fight. I don't want people getting hurt anymore. I just… want to be with you. I want to show you this world. I want to dance with you…"

"Dance?" Loki asked a bit puzzled. "The dances in Asgard are not suit for the right-minded and the last time I saw mortals dancing… It was awkward, as much to watch as to dance I am sure."

Emma smiled at him. "Was the music slow and romantic?"

Loki had a funny, considering look. That had been a few hundred years ago. "Um… no."

"Were the dancing partners close to each other, cheek to cheek? Arms around one another?"

"No… that would have been impossible."

"Were they swaying together, their bodies in same rhythm from side to side?"

A shyish grin grew on his face. "Are you sure you are describing the art of dancing here?"

"Yes, the kind of dance I want to dance with you."

He let his gentle gaze caress her. "Hm, sounds nice. That kind of dance I would like too. What else?"

"I want to walk with you along a beach like this," she said glancing around them. "I want to talk with you through the night. I want to make love to you. Fall asleep by your side and wake up, you next to me. Am I crazy? Is it too much to ask?"

Loki shook his head, sharing her dreams. "I want all that too. We can start by talking through the night."

Emma bit her lips. "I know we can't touch each other but… Um… Have you ever heard of phone-sex?"

Loki's dark brows rose in a curious way and he was interested to give it a go even he wasn't sure what a phone was. "No, but please tell me more."

**… …**

_Thanks for reading! I'm not trying to emasculate Loki here with all the feelings he's going through. He needed to finally get honest with himself about everything he had done and he got some time to think things over so he can look forward now._

_I'm excited about the next chapter because there Logan the Wolverine will finally get involved with things._


	22. 22 Who's your daddy?

A big, meatloaf filled sandwich tasted finger-licking good with a large cup of coffee after a long drive. The small roadside café was neat and nicely quiet, only a few more customers sitting at the tables as Logan the Wolverine ate his breakfast alone in a pleasant silence.

A TV was on over a cupboard behind the desk, but the volume was low, so it didn't bother him. With a one quick look, there was again this crazy, egoistic damn clown in black-green outfit with a twisted, golden, horned helmet on, giving a show about his magic tricks. Logan snorted. The poor bastard reminded him too much of Magneto with his helmet and a green cape. And he hated that kind of self-centered stuff the boy was talking about, so he gave more attention to his sandwich than to the TV.

The complimentary newspaper of that day laid on the table in front of him and the main headlines screamed _'The World Wide Web is down' _and_ 'Conspiracy theories running wild'._

Logan didn't give a damn about that. He'd never even used the Net so he couldn't care less if the Internet was down.

It had been a good, quiet morning and he would have loved it to stay that way. He had been driving without a real destination but he pondered he should have been heading towards New York State, seeing some old friends in the Xavier's place. He had never truly felt he would fit in there, but it had been alright for a while. He needed some peace and quiet every now and then but he used to return to the old mansion, the Xavier's school for mutant kids, eventually.

When Logan noticed a black luxury car, an Acura, parking in front of the café and a man in a black suit, looking like a fed, stepping out checking out Logan's old campervan, Logan felt that his day just turned bad. He tried not to pay attention to the tidy dressed man who entered the café, removed his sunglasses and walked over to the desk.

Logan concentrated to finish his breakfast but he was disturbed as the suit-man came slowly at his table with a large cup of coffee and a donut.

"Excuse me, sir, do you mind if I'd sit here?" the man asked in an annoyingly calm tone, without being friendly or unfriendly.

Logan glowered at the man and then glanced at the rest of the empty tables. The man could have chosen anywhere else to park his arse, it wasn't the lack of tables, and Logan hadn't been asking for company.

"Yes, I mind," Logan said shortly and took a bite from his sandwich.

The man sat opposite Logan anyway and took a sip from his cup. "You are a hard man to find, Mr. Logan."

Logan's hackles rose by that remark. He had been right; the man had been looking for him. It was the hunch that never had failed him.

"Apparently not hard enough," Logan stated grunting and stared at the man who looked and sounded like a government's agent, a nasty one. He hated those guys. They came with a stench of trouble with them. "I'll take a wild guess that you're not from the IRS?"

The man looked straight into Logan's eyes, putting his cup on the table. "My name is Phil Coulson. I'm working for one of our governments agencies, yes, but that's not why I'm here. This is a rather personal matter."

Logan heaved an annoyed sigh, rolling his eyes. "Have you come to take your revenge on me on something I have done? Let me finish this and we can take it outside!"

Coulson shook his head with a dry small smile. "It's nothing like that, Mr. Logan. I'm not here to bring you trouble."

"Then leave me alone. Can't a man eat in peace?"

"I think you might want to hear what I've got to say."

Logan wrapped the remains of his sandwich into a napkin and took it and his coffee with him. "No, I don't!" he said sounding bored as he got up from his seat and walked towards the door.

Coulson followed him calmly. "Yes you do. Please, sit down, sir, and listen to me. It won't take much of your time."

"Look, whatever you've got to say; I don't give a damn!" Logan reassured and pulled the door open. "So, fuck off!"

"You have a daughter, Mr. Logan!" Coulson said simply and Logan stopped moving as if he had frozen. "And she is… like you. You two share the same genes. I'm sure you know what I mean."

Logan knitted his dark, thick brows turning his puzzled gaze at the man. That was the craziest thing he had ever heard. "I have no kids!"

Coulson nodded and took a step closer, going for his jacket's pocket and picking up a folded paper. "Yes, you do," he said, handing the paper to Logan that had a printed picture of a young woman. "This is Emma Morgan, formerly known as Emily Morrison."

Logan took a moment to look at the picture utterly dumbfound. The girl was pretty, with long wavy blonde hair and big brooding eyes, but she looked nothing like him. He lifted his doubtful eyes at the man. "She's not mine. She doesn't even look like me!"

"Your DNA match was 99 percent accurate and since you two share _the special features_, not mentioned the same cheerful attitude, the test result would be 100 percent accurate. This is your daughter, Mr. Logan. And she is in a bit of a trouble. Do you think we could have that talk now?" Coulson asked and offered him to take a seat back at the table.

The quickly flared up anger was settling down and Logan gave the man a perplexed frown, pondering the possibility of what the man had just told. He looked like he'd gotten lost in his thoughts for a moment. He knew someone who could check up the facts faster than anyone. "I need to make a call to my psychic."

Coulson made an approving expression. "Take your time."

Logan pointed his finger at the man holding his sandwich in his palm. "If you fuck with me, if this is some sort of trick, I will cut your goddamn head off, bub!"

"There are no tricks here, sir," Coulson promised calmly.

**… …**

"Since we are both still here I assume that the mortals haven't given you the Tesseract yet?" Loki smirked dryly at his blond brother who had come to visit him again.

Thor gave him a sour look and shifted his weight to another foot. A part of him was very glad that Loki had somehow pulled himself up from the depths of his despair, another part hated that smug, once again carefree attitude of his like he had no care in the world. "No, but I am working on it. I am seeing Fury again today and will make him to see reason."

The trickster god walked slowly back and forth beside the strong glass wall, his hands clasped behind his back, like a cocky rooster. "Well, you should bring Mjölnir with you. He wouldn't see reason even he had both eyes," Loki said and shot an amused look at Thor. Farther away from Thor stood four guards who were there keeping an eye on the Asgardian brothers. "Do you not find it annoying, brother, when those you consider as friends adjudge you to be unworthy to trust?"

"I am sure you know something about that, brother," Thor retorted. "I wish I could trust you, Loki. It would make this much simpler, for both of us."

"Hm… Well, set me free and we could discuss more about trust over a tankard of mead," Loki suggested glancing lazily at the guards, pondering how fast the soldiers would storm at them if Thor would actually lost his mind and set him free.

"When have you become a drinker?"

"When have you become more concern about others than yourself?" Loki returned a question in a sardonic tone. "To be completely honest…" he begun and noticed Thor giving a snort to that, and Loki could only smile sadly. "You still think I am incapable of sincerity? When we fought each other in Asgard and here… those were not probably the finest moments of our lives. But I am glad," he said and swallowed finding it hard to say it aloud being sincere, "I am glad that I failed to kill you."

"Yes, well… me too."

That had felt like a small step closer to the old times, to the brotherhood they once had shared. The brothers stared into each others eyes for a short while thoughtfully, Thor pondering was that just another lie and Loki thinking did his words hold any value to his brother anymore.

"I cannot blame you. I would not believe me if I were you."

"We can leave that debate for later. But one way or the other we will go back home, Loki."

Loki stopped pacing and turned at his brother with a small smile. "Why would you want to go back to Asgard? The Allfather cast you out once. You, his only true heir. You have here in Midgard everything you need, and Jane," Loki spoke persuading, stretching the woman's name. "You could even become the king of _this realm. _Show them a few lightnings and they would worship you as a god."

Thor shook his head. "I do not share your desire to subject people under my rulings. Not here and not in Asgard. And mortals are doing fine without our interference."

"You are jesting, right, my brother?" Loki asked and let out a chuckle, spreading his arms wide to his sides. "The mortals are slowly destroying their own realm with their short-sighted actions. What they would have needed, and what I would have gladly given them, was one strong leader," Loki said as thought justifying his own actions, touching his chest like he'd had been talking from his heart, "a benevolent despot who would have showed them the right way to salvation."

Thor rolled his eyes heaving a sigh. _Nothing had changed!_ "You have deluded yourself with those poisonous dreams, brother."

"Indeed," Loki remarked ruefully. "But what did you really expected from one who had been living his whole life in others lies?"

"Even I do not approve father's decision of keeping the truth of your origins hidden from, you cannot excuse your foul choices with that anymore."

"Funny, that's what Emma said the other day."

"I heard that she has made a remarkable recovery," Thor said, his voice compassionate. "Considering her healing rate she cannot be a mortal. What is she? I heard you calling her Valkyrie. Er… she is not a valkyrie, is she?"

"Why?" Loki asked a bit amused understanding Thor's concern. "Would you be envious if I have found the last valkyrie and made her mine?"

"No!" Thor grunted hastily. "But she is not one, right?"

"She does fight like a valkyrie, don't you think?"

"Not really. I have not even seen her using a sword."

"She doesn't need one."

"And she is too small."

Loki frowned in a disapproving way. "When have you become an expert of valkyries?"

Thor looked upset. "You know how much I enjoyed the stories father told about them."

Loki tried not to grin but failed miserably. "Yes, I remember when you wanted to become a valkyrie."

"That was before I realized they were all women. And I was much, much younger then," Thor continued glancing behind him at the guards as a clarification for them if they even paid attention to their talk. "But we are not taking about me. We were talking about Emma. That is if _you_ even know what she is."

The god of mischief found it refreshing that Thor wasn't praising his own achievements anymore. "Oh, I do know her. She is more than a mortal. She and her kinds are the next step of the evolution of mankind."

"When you say it like that you make it sound ominous."

"Brother, you seem to share the charity of the majority of the mortals. Most of them want to see her kinds wiped off from the face of Earth," Loki smirked with a dark tone. "Why do you think your new friends keep her caged? If they cannot control her I fear… they will kill her."

"I will not let that happen."

"Well, have you seen her lately?"

"No, but…"

Loki moved closer to the wall, his expression turning gloomier. "Thor, they will take her away today. And I do not know where. As I have told you she is not safe with these people. I wish you could believe me that much." He swallowed lowering his gaze in uncertainty and continuing in a silent voice. "If you should find a way to take us back home, I shall take her with me."

"You know more than well that you cannot bring a mortal into Asgard!"

Loki returned his gaze at Thor a challenge in his eyes. "Oh, you just watch me, brother! I will not leave Emma here alone to die."

**… …**

It was late in the afternoon when Emma was brought into the nicer room with a big window where she had talked with agent Coulson a couple days ago. She sat at the empty table, her hands cuffed, alone and just waiting. She was told to wait, but she didn't know what she was waiting for. Agent Coulson perhaps, but she hadn't seen him the whole day. She hadn't yet given her consent or refusal to his proposal to join on the S.H.I.E.L.D.

Simply accepting to it felt like she would have betrayed Loki in every way possible. And uncertainty of the outcome of refusal also terrified her. She had the horrible feeling that she wouldn't never walk out from that place as a free woman or alive at all. She feared that her time was up and she couldn't any longer put off her answer.

The nights she had spent talking with Loki's projection, planning how to get out, dreaming about a future together if that time would come. They had found creative ways please one another without a real touch and in a humorous way planned how to take over the world together like _Pinky and Brain_. And she had cherished every moment with him.

A good half an hour later, Emma had grown tired of sitting and went at the window, staring down at the riverside. It was a grey day outside, it wasn't raining yet but it was just waiting to happen. Finally the door opened and agent Phil Coulson walked in. He gave her a short glance as if saying hello. "Ms. Morgan, there is someone to see you."

Curiously Emma took a few steps forward, hoping that agent Coulson had fallen into a temporarily mental disorder and brought Loki to her. But no, she saw Logan entering the room. It was the man she recognized from the photograph Coulson had shown her. He had the same thick head of hair, a quiet hairstyle. He looked exactly the same as in the picture. And he wore a dark-brown leather jacket, a blue tartan flannel shirt under it and blue jeans.

_"__Oh dear god,"_ a bewildered sigh escaped her mouth. Coulson had dropped quite a bomb on her.

Hesitating and cautiously Logan made his entrance, gazing at the young woman in cuffs. She looked small and scared. _Jesus Christ! What had she ever done to get into a place like this surrounded by all these people?_

Coulson gave them a short self-satisfied look like he'd done something valuable. "You've got a lot to talk about. So, I'll leave you to it," he said and left the room.

Talking wasn't one of Logan's best qualities. And he had never expected to face this situation; to meet up with his own adult kid who was a completely stranger to him. The door closed behind him and he took a cautious step towards the girl. He had been trying to prepare himself for this moment while driving after Coulson to Washington D.C. but he didn't feel ready anymore.

"Hey, I'm Logan," he said and felt like he had just jointed the AA session. _Get a grip, man!_ "I was told… well, that Coulson guy told, that I have a kid. So, um, you must be Emma."

Dumbfound Emma just stood and watched at the strange man, her father, who should have known all the answers to her questions about her origins and the curse she was carrying. "Hi," she managed to say aloud. "Yeah. I'm Emma. Morgan."

They stood on the opposite sides of the room like trapped animals, unknown to each other, neither of them really enjoying the moment. Emma not even prepared to meet with him.

"You don't have to fear me. I know I'm called Wolverine but I don't bite," Logan said, seeing that his showing up unexpectedly had made her confused, scared even.

"No… It's just that, I'm at a loss here," Emma swallowed. "Are you really my father? Or are you just one of those freaking agents, paid to change my mind?"

Logan took another step closer, his thick brows curving. "Do I look like one those fucking clowns in a suit? Their sort gives me the itch. I hate the whole bunch!"

"Yeah, same here. Why… why have you come?"

_That was a very good question_, Logan thought pondering the same damn thing. If he had never spent time with the kids in Xavier's mutant school he wouldn't have probably taken this trip at all.

"I don't know. I guess, I wanted to see are you real. Jesus Christ! I didn't even know I had a kid until this day. How old are you?"

"How old do I look like?"

Logan snorted. _The kid was getting a smartass with him already!_ "You look like a kid to me. What comes to our kind, age is just a number. I don't remember when I was born, but I've been looking the same at least over thirty years."

Emma sighed in puzzlement. "Okay. Um, I'm 25."

"So, it was sometimes in -86 then?" Logan pondered aloud. He stopped everything and only sniffed the air like a dog, suspiciously. "Hang on! You smell that?" he asked and walked close to the window, passing her on his way.

"What?" Emma took a sniff but she only smelled him, and his odor was quite strong. He smelled… _wild but safe_.

"Cheap cologne. Eau de toilette; _breeze of my ass_!" Logan grunted severely annoyed staring at the window.

He clenched his right fist and revealed his adamantium claws, striking his deadly blades through the glass. Electrical sparks flew in the air as the riverside scenery in the window pane went all black and the broken pieces of the blackened glass fell down revealing a hidden room behind it, and two agents, a male and a female, who looked at him horrid.

Emma had taken a frightened step back when she had seen his claws emerging but returned by Logan side, staring at him and the revealed secret. She hadn't had any idea that the window had been fake and they had been monitored the whole time. It had been some sort of high-tech 3D illusion screen. It was nothing compared to Loki's illusions but still impressive. They had surely fooled her. "For fuck's sake!" she gasped getting angry.

Logan frowned at her, a bit surprised that she wasn't scared of his action. "Hey, watch you mouth, kid!" he told her in a fatherly manner and she just gave him a _'are you fucking kidding me'_ –look.

Coulson entered into the hidden room just to witness the shattered wall and Logan's furious glower, his claws pointing at Coulson. "Hey, buddy! I thought you promised us a private conversation and no tricks. This looks like a damn trick to me. I hate liars! Do we get some privacy here or do you want me to start redecorating some more?" Logan asked.

_I love you, dad!_ Emma was speechless, gazing at Logan and his steely claws and then at the utterly perplexed and worried Coulson. The agent's expression was priceless, finally showing some real emotions, and Emma grinned after recovering from the shock.

"Er," Coulson swallowed, pondering hard should he be calling for the security or not. This was the man he didn't want to make a scene here. "I recommend you keep your claws to yourself, sir. Let's give them some peace, shall we?" he said to his fellow agents and they left with hurry. He had no idea how to explain this to the director Fury.

Emma heard the male agent saying something like that it had been a half million dollar window and it had been a mistake to bring Logan there. Coulson was starting to agree with that.

Logan smirked like a crook watching them leave. _The bastards wouldn't try to fuck with him again!_ _"Thanks, Charles,"_ he murmured, pleased of some unexpected telepathic help from a friend.

Emma looked the man in front of her with a new kind of respect, and realized that her own claws made some sense now. Loki had been blaming himself for her icy claws and shared his thoughts with her about it. And Emma had been sure it was just her being a freak for developing such spikes, but now she knew; she was born to have those in some point of life. They ran in the family. This man was truly her father.

"You know what? It doesn't matter that I never knew you until now. That just made it all up. How come…?" She didn't even know where to start. She just stared at his mighty claws. Those were much bigger than hers and looked a lot stronger and sharper too.

Logan pulled his claws back in, giving her a long, studying gaze. "These don't come off. So, I take that you don't have a pair of these then?"

Unintentionally tears were creeping into her eyes. "Not quite like those. I wouldn't really want to show them because…"

There was a sorry looking in Logan's eyes. "It hurts every time when they comes out," he filled her sentence and Emma only nodded to agree with that.

Logan took a seat, sitting on one of the armchairs and turning his compassionate eyes at her. "Coulson told that you've inherited my genes. So, is that your speciality too? The claws?"

Emma sat on a chair next to him. It felt odd to talk about it, but he did feel like a kinder spirit. "The claws are a new thing to me, I'm trying to get the hang of them. I… I heal fast and my body adapts to surrounding environments quickly. I could go to freezing Antarctic only with bikinis on for a few days and live to tell you about it. How about you? Were you born with those blades?"

Logan stared down at his hands, the small holes already healed between his knuckles. "No. And yes. I was born with these claws but my whole skeleton has been covered with this indestructible alloy. Don't ask me why," he said and turned back at her. "I heal fast too which makes me hard to kill. I have lived long. I don't even know for how long. I have no recollection of what happened before the mid seventies."

Emma listened in silence and then couldn't hide her sudden grin. "Yeah, I heard that the seventies did that to a lot of people."

"Don't get a wiseass with me, kid! I've got a bullet stuck in my brain. It caused me to lose my whole memory. I know nothing of my life before that time."

They had more in common that she could have ever imagined; both shot in the head, but she had regained her memory, though. "No shit?"

"Yeah. Shit!" Logan heaved a long sigh. For some strange reason if felt easy to talk with her. "I've got no relatives. No family. Well, except you, now. I, um… I'm sorry, kid. It must have not been easy for you."

Emma let out a tiny pained laugh. "You have no idea."

He lowered his gaze down. "I know it's not easy to be what we are. It has been hard enough to bear it with myself. I would have never wanted to pass this curse down to someone else."

"Are you saying that you wish that I would have been never born? _Jeez, thanks, dad! A good talk!_"

"No, I'm not saying that. I don't know what the hell I'm saying!" He took a moment to gather his thoughts, watching at her. "So, your mother? What's her name? Is she still around?"

"Aileen Morrison… I heard she's living a nice, perfect, little family life in Florida with no-mutant kids. My mom dumped me the moment she realized what I was. I was sixteen at that time. Haven't seen her ever since," Emma told, bitterness in her trembling voice.

Logan turned his gaze at her, a great concern and disappointment in his eyes, feeling like he had been the one letting the poor girl down. "Just like that?"

Emma snorted. "No. She let some freaking monsters take me to be tested and tortured for a couple of months. I guess I would have still been there or died, if I wouldn't have fought my way out from that fucking place. You know, the claws would have been pretty handy back then. It's a shame I got them just recently."

"Jesus… I…" Logan swallowed hard. "I am so sorry, kid," he said staring into her blue eyes. Her young life had been probably as much hard as his had been.

Emma gazed back at him with a small smile. He was nothing she had expected him to be; an arrogant, couldn't-care-less prick with a bear belly. No. He was a hell of a cool and compassionate, definitely a badass with his claws but alright.

"It's not your fault. After all you didn't even know that I existed. Mom really didn't talk about you. When I asked from her about my dad she told that his name's Logan and that she met him just once. I wasn't curious about the details, knowing her style... She wasn't very smart when it came to men. Um… No offence."

Logan let out a snort with a dry laugh, pondering a moment, a gentle smile spreading on his face. "I wasn't looking for a company in that bar on that night, just to get drunk. Aileen? Yeah. She sure was pretty. She asked me to dance and didn't take no for an answer and I'm a guy with two left feet. There wasn't much talking." Suddenly he felt awkward to continue. "Trust me I wouldn't have ever carelessly put a woman to carry my child. We were careful, you know… used the protection…"

A grin made Emma's cheeks twitching. "Yeah, I guess it could be a bit tricky to put a rubber on with those claws…"

"Hey, what did I tell you about being a smartass? Show some respect to your old man!" Logan grunted at her.

"Sorry, _dad_!" Emma laughed and finally so did Logan.

"Just call me Logan, alright?"

They talked a while about everything and nothing important, finding out that they did share more than just a few genes.

Emma kept watching at him, just trying to understand that he was really her father and he had come there just to see her on the very moment he had discovered he had a kid. It touched her so very much.

"Do you ever," she begun but hesitated a bit, "feel like there's something dark inside of you, something you can't push aside…"

"It's like a beast you can't control. It gets you in rage, makes you do unthinkable things, and you can't help it," Logan continued her words like he had been reading her mind. They stared at each other in the eyes for a long while in silence and in a deep understanding. And it got Emma on the verge of tears. "Oh, kid. I'm sorry," he said and it felt like that was all he could say. Logan realized he had truly passed down his own curse on her. "I wouldn't wish that for my worst enemy."

"Yeah, I've done some bad things, unable to control myself… thinking that I'm a monster. Thinking that there is something wrong with me. But there's not… there's nothing wrong with me. You and I, we are what we are. It's in our nature, right?"

"Damn! You're wiser than your old man. It took me more than 25 years to figure that out."

Logan couldn't ignore the cuffs around Emma's wrists. She seemed to be a good kid just like the young ones in the X-mansion and he couldn't understand what Coulson's bureau wanted with her. It was time to ask the difficult questions.

"You're alright, kid. Which makes me wonder… This Coulson told me that you're in some sort of deep trouble. He also mentioned that your boyfriend is a dick who got you in that trouble in the first place. So, who is this guy of yours?"

Emma's eyes got rounded by a surprise. She had never expected to talk about guys with her father. She had never had neither until now. "Do you mean Loki? Our relationship… It's complicated. It is a bit difficult to explain."

"The whole life is complicated! What do you mean? Is he bad company, some hot-head mutant? Has he hurt you? If so just point me into his direction and I'll give him some claw."

Emma could only imagine Loki's and Logan's encounter; it could get nasty. "It's nothing like that. He's been good to me and I really care about him, very much. He has done a few bad things in his life but so have I. We have – I would say it's – an understanding. He knows what I am, and it doesn't freak him out. And I know what he is, and I see the good in him, even the others may not."

Logan frowned. "Then what's the problem? Why are you here in those bracelets? And why Coulson so desperately wishes me to convince you to leave this Loki guy?"

Emma frowned too. _So, that's why Coulson had brought her father to meet her._ At least Logan was being honest with her. "Maybe it's because Loki is not from around here."

"A foreign guy, huh? Don't tell me he's some fancy pants finance criminal from Europe? Or a thug from the Russian mob?"

"He's bit more farther off than that." Emma grimaced. "He's an _extraterrestrial_."

Logan stared at her a moment without blinking. "What the hell? Are you telling me that you're dating a fucking alien?"

Emma rolled her eyes. "He's actually a very nice when you get to know him. It's not like he's a little green man." _No, he's more of a big blue guy._ "He looks like a normal human being and he's actually a quite lovable. He didn't land on my backyard with his space ship for trampling crops. He was cast out from his own realm and he ended up here. Alone."

Logan shook his head in disbelieve. It had started as such a good day and turned out into a freaking nightmare. "Do you have any idea how fucking deranged that sounds?"

Emma let out a tiny, sad laugh. "Yeah, I do. And I do know what it feels like to be alone and abandoned. These people here are going to kill him and probably me too if I don't join them. Or then they will keep us locked up and throw away the keys."

"Oh, for fuck's sake!" Logan grunted combing his fingers through his hair with both hands. "Could you not just see the reason and give up on Loki? Phil Coulson seems to be a decent guy even for a sly agent. I'll have a talk with him. Maybe he'll let you go if you would join up in Charles Xavier's team. He's an old friend of mine and helps our kind. Charles is reliable and I would trust him with my life."

Emma had enough with sitting. She took a few steps, glancing at the broken fake window and the empty hidden room behind it. "Look, Loki and I met by a chance, but I am not going to abandon him!"

Logan watched at his daughter with sad eyes. "This is your life we are talking about. Is this guy really worth it?"

"Yes. I'd trust him with my life," Emma said without hesitation. She gazed at her father, tears glimmering in the corner of her eyes. "I know this is an unfair thing to ask you, since we have just met, but I'm going to ask anyway, because this might me my last chance. So, here it goes, Logan; Will you help us to escape this place? A small distraction would be fine. Just something to get me started, and I'll take it from there."

Logan got up on his feet too, with a look of concern in his face. "Are you crazy? Do you even hear what you're saying? Have you not seen the security measures of this place?"

"I've done it once before," Emma said quietly, but it felt like those weren't her own words. She had once escaped from the bad people but it had turned her into a monster, a beast that hadn't cared of who got hurt. Actually she had done it twice; the second time in the Helicarrier. But she wasn't sure if she could go through it again. "Will you help me?"

Logan let out a long sad sigh. "I'm sorry, kid. I can't."

"You can't or you won't?" she asked sounding upset but then she lowered her gaze ashamed. "Sorry… I shouldn't have asked you. It's not right. Shit! I don't know anymore what I'm going to do. I'm getting a bit desperate here."

Logan took a long while to talk with her trying to reason with her, telling her that he would help her but not that way. And Coulson finally came to tell that it was time to say goodbye for now.

As Logan was leaving, he stood in front of the door next to agent Coulson and gave Emma one more look. "I will come to see you again, soon. Until then Goldie Locks, stay away form the Big Bad Wolf, alright?"

Emma stood in the middle of the room, a small smile on her lips. "You're not very good telling bedtime stories, Logan. You mixed up the characters!"

"Huh?"

"Goldie Locks went to the house of the Three Bears." She smiled a bit more. "Maybe on her way there she met the Big Bad Wolf who turned out to be a decent guy. They were good together. It was those three fucking Bears that made a big deal out of it," she said nodding towards Coulson.

"Wiseass!" Logan snorted but smiled at her fondly. "Look… things might seem bad now but just don't do anything stupid, alright! I will be back. I promise. You're my kid and I won't leave you alone."

When he stepped out and the guards closed the door behind him, he let out a long suffering sigh, thinking hard what do to. That was really his kid in there. He had met her only for a couple of hours but something inside of him told him that she was his, they were the same. And if she was anything like her old man, she was going to try to break out from this place in some point if the situation would seem hopeless.

"Shit!" Logan grunted and went for his pocked and picked up a big cigar, biting and spitting out the top of it.

"Sorry, sir. You can't smoke here!" the other one of the guards told him before he got a chance of lighting his cigar. "The smoking areas are on the left side from the main entrance and the back of the building."

Logan frowned at the guy who was supposed to escort him out. "Damn! I get lost even in a library. You wouldn't want to point me into the right direction on our way out, would you, buddy?"

**… …**

Logan had left and Emma sat in silence at the table agent Coulson opposite her. It was the already familiar situation. Coulson had talked to her, but she hadn't really paid attention of what he had to say after he had told that it was time for her to back up her things and get ready to move into the another location, to that campus where her training would begin.

She had been staring at an envelope in front of her that contained her new identity (passport, IDs and even new birth certificate), not opening it. Accepting the training would require her to participate into a gene-testing because of her mutation and she abhorred the whole testing idea.

When she finally lifted her gaze at the agent, there were tears in her eyes. She couldn't leave Loki there alone. And the meeting with her father had felt like she had been given a chance to say goodbye to a man she hadn't otherwise even known. She feared that she had to leave behind both of the men that meant the most to her. It felt so unfair.

She couldn't give up the life she had built, and she couldn't give up Loki. She had made up her mind, just gathering courage to get it done. She was going to hate to do it. Agent Coulson had been the only one who had treated her with some sort of respect there. The sheer thought of letting her beast-side out broke her spirit.

"Agent Coulson?" Emma asked with a small voice, interrupting his weird and insane talk of something about Loki's internet takeover.

"Yes, Ms. Morgan?"

"Thank you for letting me met my father. Why did you do it?"

"I was hoping that it would clear things up a bit and help you to understand of your own gift."

Emma closed her eyes. She wasn't sure was he only being kind to her or messing her mind completely. "Why are you being so different?"

The change of her mood and the certain coldness in her voice gave Coulson a warning sign. "Different than who?"

"Than those people who kept me caged back then. You're making this very hard for me. You wouldn't happen to have a pen to click or something?" She needed something to ignite her anger. She couldn't go berserk on the verge of tears.

"Ms. Morgan, I really encourage you to reconsider you possible intentions carefully," Coulson said in his calm voice. "We have made a great progress here. Please, don't let me down now."

"Oh fuck…" she heaved a long shivering sigh. She would have only needed to shove her claws out and hit him, but she couldn't do it. Not to him. And her plan to escape wouldn't have probably gotten her very far anyway because she didn't want people getting hurt. "You must have a dozen kids back home, agent Coulson."

Coulson looked a bit confused. "I have no children. What makes you think so?"

"Well, you should. You'd be a great father. I've never met anyone with nerves like yours."

"I'll take that as a compliment. I'm married only to my job."

"Yeah, I've noticed!" she said with a sad smile picking up the envelope. "How about we make a deal? You'll quit your job here, get married and raise a bunch of kids, and I'll go training to become an agent for these creeps. As long as Loki stays safe and I can see him every now and then, I'll promise I would make you proud." That was her second best choice. Not a good one but I would keep her alive, she hoped.

Phil Coulson looked very lost for a moment. "I… really… can't accept…"

The door opened and one of the guarding soldiers entered the room in full outfit with a helmet and vizier down. Coulson glanced at the man confused. "What are you doing here?"

The soldier approached him looking like he had something to say in private and Coulson got up from his seat. Before he realized the soldier pounced on him roughly. Coulson fought back hard relying on his special agent trainings, managing to deliver a few punches, but soon he found himself unarmed and in a tight grip, his face against the table and his arms locked behind his back.

"W-what?" Emma screamed and jumped up from her chair and moved back in a fright, snatching her chair to her protection. She exchanged distressed glances with agent Coulson who was pressed against the table looking suffering.

Coulson had made a lot of his own investigations and discovered Emma's theory of the Hydra's infiltrations could have been very much correct. And now he only assumed that the attacker was after her, _a Hydra's henchman_. "Run!" Coulson grunted at her with a grimace, worried for her sake. "Go! Now!"

Without really thinking much Emma went with her animal instincts and those told her to fight like a beast. She swung the chair at the assaulting soldier with force over the table and threw her arms wide to her sides popping out her claws fiercely, ready to fight with a burning rage.

Right before she was about to jump over the table at the soldier, she saw three long steel claws emerging out from the soldier's fist as he smashed the chair in pieces before it hit him.

"Hey, what's wrong with you, kid?" the soldier grunted at her, keeping the agent down with another hand while he opened his vizier, revealing a familiar face.

Shocked of what she saw Emma couldn't get a word out of her mouth, slowly letting her guards down, her own icy claws as extensions of her fists pointing at the man. "Logan?" Emma stammered. "W-what are you doing?" she yelped at him, pointing at the suffering agent down in his grip. At least he saved her the trouble of trying to take Coulson down by herself, but now she was actually worried for the poor guy.

"Goddamn! You do have claws!" Logan took note slightly astonished. "She's really my daughter," he noted to Coulson in his grip and turned back at her. "What are those made of? Ice?"

"I think so… I thought you said you were coming back later. What are you doing?" she asked again and glanced at Coulson, pointing her claws at him. "You are hurting him!"

"I gave it another thought and came into a conclusion that I can't leave you alone here any longer. And just maybe you should introduce this boyfriend creep of yours to your old man. What do you say, kid? Shall we go to say him hello?" Logan asked with an apologetically small smile, pulling agent Coulson up from the table like a doll.

Emma could only answer that with a smile, pulling her claws back in. "You would help us getting out?"

"That's what the fathers are for, right?"

"Logan?" Phil Coulson gasped, glancing at the man over his shoulder. "What do you think you're doing, sir? We are on the same side here!"

"Sorry, bub. I'm an impulsive guy. They should have mentioned that in my profile. It's nothing personal. But if you'll bully my little girl, don't expect me to let it go. Now, where do you keep that no-good E.T.-boy?"

Emma picked up the envelope from the table staring at Coulson looking a bit sorry. _Things had changed so suddenly._ "Um… Sorry! Mind if I take a rain check on this agent training matter?"


	23. 23 Taste of freedom

Brooding in his dark thoughts, Loki lied on the cushioned bench, staring up at the boring ceiling, his hands behind his head, being as comfortable as he could on a bed a bit too short for him. He had grown tired of pacing around in his cage after Thor had left.

If there was a personal hell for him waiting somewhere, this must have been the closest thing to it. No idea of the passing time, nothing to do but to soak in his misery, no connection to the surrounding world except his little telepathic link with Emma and his visits to her with his projection. That had been his lift-raft, though. She had gotten under his skin, in a good way, and he couldn't stop thinking about her. Even they both being caught, she had kept believing in him and caring for him above anything else. And that's why he was going to do all in his powers to return the favour and set her free, somehow. And if nothing else would work, as a last resort he was going to talk Thor over to take her into Asgard with them.

But they were separated from each other and soon even more so as the agents were going to relocate her somewhere far away. And he feared for her safety, feeling he had failed her time and time again. He stroked his lips as he used to do when he was thinking, and he was thinking about her. When he concentrated he felt her presence and it was changing.

_So it was happening! They were moving her away right now_, he realized and closed his eyes feeling hopeless.

_What if he would create a distraction to draw the guards after his projections? That could give her a small chance to escape_, he thought, because he couldn't just stay there doing nothing. _But then what? She would still be alone and would probably try to come to him and getting herself killed._

Loki groaned in frustration covering his face with both of his palms taking a deep breath.

"I'm telling you, you are making a terribly big mistake!"

A distant male's voice, carrying from the door, pulled Loki back on earth from the depth of his mind. He recognized the owner of that voice; _Coulson!_ Loki rolled up from his bunk gracefully like a big cat and moved with curious, slow steps at the glass wall.

Bewilderment would have been too mild expression to use when he noticed Emma running towards his cell and opening her handcuffs with a key.

Loki moved closer to the wall, his puzzled gaze locking with hers. "Emma?" he breathed, a questioning smile settling on his face.

_No claws! And thankfully no bullet wounds! How had she gotten down there to him?_ he pondered, amazed.

"You just cannot keep away from me, can you?" he asked playfully, unsure what was going on. But seeing her couldn't make him happier.

Emma gave a big smile to her god of mischief, stopping in front of a small control panel on the sidewall of the cell. "What would I do without you, big guy?" she said and input a code (she had gotten from Coulson with a minor extortion) to open Loki's cell.

To his worry Loki noticed Coulson and one armed soldier entering the room after her. "Emma, look out!" he told to her a rush of anxiety sweeping over him, wishing that the damn door would open already.

"No! Ms. Morgan, don't do it!" Coulson growled at her, but simply too late; the heavily sealed door was unbolting.

When his way was clear Loki walked out from his cell with just three hasty steps straight into Emma's embrace. She looked up at him with her bright blue eyes, whispering his name when he cradled her face in his palm as though making sure it was really she before closing her gently in his arms.

On that moment Emma knew everything was going to be alright, being close to him again, feeling his strong arms around her, hearing his heart beating and smelling his scent. She would have kissed him like crazy if Logan wouldn't have been there to see it.

Loki had wanted to hold her and touch her so badly that now when he had her he wouldn't have wanted to let go. But seeing the two men coming forth, he pulled Emma behind him protectively, preparing to run them through. "Stay behind me!"

"No, no! Loki, it's alright!" Emma told him hastily, holding on to his right forearm, trying to stop him doing something regrettable. "We came to get you out!"

"Not all of us!" agent Coulson remarked, looking unhappy as he was brought there by the soldier wearing black uniform and a helmet. In a normal situation he would have fought back till the end but with Logan he knew the fight was over before it had begun. And when Logan had told that he would start slicing and dicing anyone who should try to stop them Coulson had decided to keep the casualties in minimum and go along with them.

"We? Who are we?" Loki asked and gave Emma a confused glance, returning his eyes at the soldier and Coulson.

"Loki, you won't believe this! I want you to meet my father," Emma said sounding excited, stepping next to Loki pointing her hand at the strange man in a black uniform. "Logan, this is Loki who I told you about. Loki, this is Logan, my father."

The situation and timing couldn't have been worse to introduce your father to your companion, but there wasn't really anything normal about any of them. _So, why not doing it while busting out from prison?_

"Your father?" _He had definitely missed something here_, Loki thought and looked even more astonished, casting a long gaze at the soldier who removed his helmet unveiling some thick, dark hair and mighty sideburns. _All right! They looked nothing alike!_ "I am very honoured to…?" he started offering his hand.

Logan's forehead furrowed and his nose wrinkled like an angry dog's. _It was the same fucking clown he had seen on TV in the morning, the damn annoying Prettyboy._ "No way in hell!" he growled, staring at Loki and pointing his helmet at him, holding on Coulson with other hand. "You've got to be fucking kidding me! Don't tell me it's this asshat!"

Loki scowled at the man, taking a defensive stand. "I am sorry?" he grunted and gave a glance at Emma. "What did he just call me?"

"Emma, you're better throw him back in and let Coulson keep this bastard!"

"What? No!" Emma protested her eyes sparkling in anger. "He's coming with us! Logan, you don't have to be so rude, you know?" Her gaze bounced between the men confused, thinking was Logan like Loki's Midgardian little cousin or something. "You two know each other? Please tell me you're not relatives, are you?" she asked cautiously.

Loki resented the shorter man's attitude towards him already. "I have never seen this man in my life."

"Well, I've seen his ugly face every time I've turned on TV for a couple of days now," Logan told.

"Oh, but I do hope you enjoyed the show," Loki said with a tiny, cheeky grin.

"Is there something is should know about?" Emma asked from Loki with a whisper.

"Have you not been listening what I've told you, Ms. Morgan? Loki's videos are all over the internet. He has literally taken over the Net and we were forced to shut down the whole world wide web," Coulson filled in, annoyed.

"Huh? Why?"

_It seemed his little time spent with the teenagers in England had proven to be more than fruitful._ Loki gave Emma a short, uneasy smile, folding his arm around her shoulders. "I will explain everything to you later, my dear," he promised, just hoping that this insane conversation would come to an end. "Now, I can see where you have gotten your cheerful attitude."

Logan turned back at Loki, frowning, recalling those video clips he had seen on TV. "You're an alien, huh? And I was expecting someone like Yoda. At least you don't have that stupid, fucking helmet on! What's the bloody deal with your horns? You've got some serious size issues, bub?"

Loki didn't even bother to answer that. _Why was everybody so damn interested about his horns? _

But Emma couldn't stop herself. "I assure you he does not," she smirked quietly.

"Oh, shut up, kid! You've been making out with a fucking alien? Jesus!" Logan grunted, giving her a scolding look, taking his newly found fatherhood seriously. Then he shook his head in a disapprovance and dragged the agent into the cell.

Emma and Loki stepped out of the way, and Emma gawped at Logan feeling like an idiot, being awkward enough by the whole situation, even without being questioned about her sex-life by her newly found father.

"You told your father about us?" Loki asked whispering, and she just managed to shrug, shaking her head.

Loki took a quick look up at the camera in the ceiling. "What about the guards? They will see us," he took note a bit worried.

"Don't worry. We told to the guards that this is our last connubial visit. The camera is turned off for our convenience."

Loki dropped his hand on her waist and he pulled her closer, giving her an amused grin. "Oh really? The prisoners have that kind of indulgences here in Midgard? _Maybe we should stay,"_ he teased with a whisper and she answered that with a shyish grin hushing him down.

"Hey, you, E.T.-boy! Don't touch her like that!" Logan grunted to Loki who stricken bemused and reluctantly let go of her.

"Who is he calling a boy?" Loki snorted sulkily, offended by the man's continuous and unjustified insults.

"Look, sorry to do this, Phil. Especially as it was you who told me about my daughter. But I bet you would have done the same," Logan said to Phil Coulson who stood now inside the cell, the door closing in front of him, locking him inside.

Coulson frowned, glancing at Loki and Emma. "No, if I'd have a daughter I'd sure keep her away from him," he said talking to Logan. "This was not what I had in mind when I brought you to see her. You don't know what Loki is capable of. You're jeopardizing a lot of people by letting him out."

"Hey! Loki is not a bad guy!" Emma defended her favourite guy, exchanging fond glances with him.

Logan heaved a sigh, not feeling so good about this anymore while watching at the tall E.T.-boy. "Well, I think I have to trust my daughter's word for that."

Coulson crossed his arms. "What comes to him, I'm afraid, she is a poor judge of character."

"Stop talking as if we are not here!" Emma raised her voice at the men feeling like being a kid. "For God's sake! I do what I want with who I want, Logan, even if it would a guy from another planet. I appreciate your help more than I can tell you but I'm not a kid, alright?" She sighed, turning at the imprisoned agent, looking sorry. "Agent Coulson, I'm very sorry it came to this. You are not bad for a guy working for a faceless organization. If things would have been different I might have joined you. I really hope they won't keep you caged here too long."

"You locked me in there for days so if you would ask me I hope you will never walk out from that damn cage again," Loki told to the man resentfully.

"He didn't mean that," Emma said with an apologetically grimace.

"Yes I did."

"It's not too late to make a different call, Ms. Morgan," Coulson assured her, staying calm and steady as always, his last attempts to reason with her. "Don't throw your life away because of him."

Emma shook her head. "I'm not. I'm taking it back." She took a hold of Loki's hand, giving him an affectionate look, her eyes smiling to him. "Would you do your little trick, so we can walk out from here in peace this time?"

Loki returned the smile, stroking her cheek softly with the back of his fingers. He would have so wanted to kiss her. "You read my mind, my dear," he said and transformed himself looking like agent Coulson, the golden flow of his magic changing his whole appearance.

"That is still so weird, but I love it," Emma sighed watching his transformation.

The real Coulson didn't share her enthusiasm, realizing that they were truly able to walk out without anyone stopping to question them.

Logan stared at the god of mischief mouth open and slightly suspiciously. "Well, I'll be damned! You're sure his not a shape-sifting mutant bitch with blue skin?"

Loki, looking and sounding like Coulson now, let out a snort, his jaw drawing back in irritation. "You have got something against blue skin, _Furball_?" he snapped back at the man abruptly.

"Oh, you don't want to start that game with me, _Fancy-pants_!"

"Why? Are you afraid to loose?"

Logan and Loki stared at each other grimly and Emma stepped between the men to keep them separated, lifting her hand against Loki's chest feeling his heart beating against her palm, making sure he won't go vanishing and casting illusions now. And she didn't want Logan go shoving out his claws either. She was getting strong vibes that they were heading for a battle of the alpha male status. "Oh wow! Look at the time. We've really got to go now! Alright, guys?"

Loki dropped his gaze on her. "Why do I get this funny feeling that your father is not very fond of me? You did tell him that I was a king…?"

"Sorry, buddy, but I don't give a shit about some fancy titles!" Logan grunted.

Emma tried to count to ten but quit before reaching to six while noticing the real Coulson's amused expression about the situation. He looked pretty certain that none of them would walk out from there today. And it only made her angry.

"Oh, for fuck's sake! You two have five seconds to grow up!" she cried out to the men next to her. "Loki, this is my father who dropped everything else when he heard that I existed and came to see me. Hell! He is even helping me to escape this place," she told to Loki in a pleading tone and then turned at her father. "And Logan… no matter what you may thing of Loki, I love him. So… could you please try to get along for now. We need to work together to get out of here."

Loki smiled at her gently with an approving nod. "Of course. This should be fun."

"Fine!" Logan murmured but hated the whole thing already. For his kid he could have done anything, but that prick alien-boyfriend of hers got under his skin in a nasty way. And the boy smelled strange like not from this planet. Logan didn't like that. "But you're better start to clean up your language, young lady, or you're forcing me to wash your mouth with soap!"

Emma frowned at first amused but then bit her lips slightly concerned. She didn't know much about her father yet, really. Who knows, he could have been some sort of psychopath. "You serious?"

"Damn right!"

Loki smirked. "She does use some terribly vulgar language for such a sweet creature. I cannot imagine where she had gotten that from."

Logan glowered at the E.T.-boy and picked up the handcuffs (Emma had dropped) from the floor. "You do know that she's got claws, right?" he asked and put the cuffs back on her to make things looking more plausible.

"Well, yes…"

"Those she's gotten from me. So, zip it, Pretty-boy, or I'll make you a new asshole!"

Loki gave Emma a questioning look and she closed her eyes with a suffering grimace. "Oh, god. No one's getting physical here! No claws! No illusions! No killing! Can we just go now, _please_!" she begged.

"Let's go then. It's show time," Logan said and put his helmet back on.

"We'll find you. You may escape now but we will catch you again and the next time, I'm afraid, we won't be so understanding," Coulson promised, watching them leaving.

Emma gave him a sad smile over her shoulder. "Then you're better find that new job, agent Coulson, because I don't want to fight you, but be sure that we won't surrender that damn easy anymore."

**… …**

The three of them left, walking out from the prison room. But as soon as the door shut close behind them, Loki (looking like himself again) emerged in front of the cell out of nowhere like a ghost, staring at Coulson through the glass wall with a confident and wicked smile.

"Oh, I almost forgot. The Tesseract? Where is it?" Loki asked in a dark voice, taking a step closer, clasping his hands behind his back. Their parts were changed; he was asking the questions now and being in control.

"I don't know," Coulson said shortly. His hunch of that creature had served him right. In his opinion Ms. Morgan thought too highly of that Asgardian deity. The Tesseract in Loki's hands could have been serious trouble, even they weren't really sure of all what that thing does. "My superiors haven't shared that information with me," Coulson lied.

Loki scorned at the agent's attempt to lie to him, circling the transparent wall like a predator stalking on its prey, casting a mean glower at the agent inside and inputting the code he had seen Emma using.

"Do not waste my precious time by telling me lies, agent Coulson! Tesseract does not belong to your people. Tell me where it is?" he asked and stepped over the threshold of his former cell when the door opened.

Coulson took a few nervous steps back, preparing to put up a good fight. "So, you already abandoned Emma Morgan, after she so relentlessly defended you? Or, do you simply like to keep her in the dark of your evil crusades?"

Loki shook his head a bit, annoyed of the man talking about her. He didn't have much time to argue, he needed to return to Emma as soon as possible. "What she does not know won't hurt her," he stated simply.

"Sounds like a key to a perfectly happy and healthy relationship."

Loki snorted and narrowed his eyes at the man. And before Coulson realized, he was pushed up against the wall of the cell, Loki's hand on his throat lifting him a foot high off the floor. With a furious grimace Loki held his victim in his grip, and he was taking a small pleasure of tormenting the man who had kept Emma chained, caged and away from him all this time. "I do not share her humanity towards you. This is your last chance! The Tesseract, please?"

All what Coulson had been taught about self-defence in all his years of training was slipping off his mind, Loki being too strong to fight off. He was choking, his vision turning blurry and black. All he saw was a dark silhouette against the lights on the other side of the cell as someone walked in.

"Loki? What do you think you're doing?" Emma's voice cried out with a deploring tone behind the god of mischief. "Don't hurt him. Let him go!"

Loki dropped the agent back on the floor, keeping the man in his grip as he glanced at her over his shoulder. He gave her a small apologetically grin like a little rascal who had just being caught his hand in a cookie jar. "Emma, I shall be right with you. Please, wait me outside that door," he spoke to her softly and as if slightly out of breath.

Coulson gasped for air as he finally could, unable to form words for a while, gazing at Emma, being still in Loki's grasp.

Emma stood on the doorway frowning, glancing at red-faced Coulson worried. She had quickly known something was wrong when she discovered she had been talking to only Loki's illusion on their way out of the room. "No, I will not let you hurt him. Let him go! I'm serious. I thought we were going to get out of here together!"

Loki swallowed hard. "We are. Of course we are leaving together."

"It doesn't look like that. Please, don't do anything crazy now. Not now! You do realize if Logan and I would have continued without you through the security checkpoint we would have gotten caught. Your illusion wasn't very chatty. What the hell are you playing, Loki? We need to go now!"

With mixed up feelings Loki's eyes bounced between her and the agent; he wanting so much leaving with her without ever looking back and then again eagerly seeking to find the Tesseract that could have given him the much needed advantage to carry out his plans but even more than that keeping the Infinity Stone away from Thor so they couldn't leave Midgard.

Loki was angry for her trying to stop him achieving his goal, but he treasured her for everything she had done for his sake on so far. And he fought back hard for not to say anything he would regret, his emerald eyes flaring in frustration in a mad-kind of way. "Emma, I need to do this. I need to find the Tesseract," he explained his voice nearly shivering in anxiety.

Coulson stared at Emma with begging look. "Close the door! Now! Please!" he rasped out to her with a hoarse voice, hoping to trap Loki there with him.

Loki gave the man a shove against the wall to shut him up, knocking the wind out of him.

"Stop hurting him! I mean it!" Emma screamed at Loki, moving inside the cage closer to him.

_It felt like Asgard once again!_ That moment when Thor had returned to Asgard, showing up into the Allfather's champers right after Loki had saved Odin's life. When Frigga had left him the moment she'd seen her own son returning and leaving Loki standing there alone.

"Do you grow fond of your every capturer? Would you choose him over me now?" Loki sneered at her in a heated tone and tightened his grip on the agent.

His irrational questioning stupefied Emma as she went to him. That same capricious behaviour had confused and scared her earlier in the beginning of their journey. And there is was again, that dark side of his, unpredictable and angry like a tornado.

"If you have to ask that then you don't really know me very well. What is wrong with you?" Emma asked in a small voice, pondering was it simply just jealousy. "I can't put anyone above you. I'm not giving up on you, Loki. How could I? I have given up on everything else in my life for you. Which wasn't much, but it was all I had." She glanced at Coulson who still seemed to be in one piece and returned her gaze at Loki. "I wish you won't hurt him because he is the only one here who has not wanted us dead. He's the only one who had treated me with respect and I wish we could do the same to him. Now please, just come with me. We are free to go, Loki," Emma pleaded with him to take their chance for freedom and leave agent Coulson unharmed.

Loki forced a smile even there was pain in his eyes. "Not without the Tesseract," he stated, his tone becoming softer.

"W-what is it?"

"An ancient artefact that belonged to Asgard, containing unlimited energy, capable of creating portals… These people have it in their possession..."

"Damn it, Loki! Is that what you would have been seeking out from New Mexico?"

The god of mischief let out a small nervous laugh, shaking his head. Another secret he wouldn't have wanted her to know was about to reveal. "Not really. There, I would say, would have been a bit more personal matter to attend to."

"Let me guess; Jane Foster?" Coulson gave a wild guess with a grimace, rubbing his sore throat, leaning against the wall where Loki held him. "So, Thor was right; you would have gone after her?"

_Damn loudmouth!_ Loki shot a fiery look at the interfering agent. "Does your life have no value to you at all?"

_Jane Foster?_ The name sounded familiar. Emma tried to recall where she had heard that name before. Then she remembered, to her dismay, her first encounter with Loki in the darkness of the glacier.

She was staring at Loki, gaping in great concern. "Who… who is she? Your Net-date who never showed up? No, wait! I don't want to know! You would have dragged me all the way from Greenland to New Mexico to kill some woman?" she cried out in a huff.

Loki bit his tongue between his lips, slightly irritated. "When you put it like that, you make is sound so very awful." He could tell by her expression that she was being very upset, not appreciating his gentle raillery. "Maybe we could talk about this later? Emma, my dear, it was you who got me to relinquish those plans in the first place. They no longer matter to me."

Emma looked shocked her gaze dropping down. "Yeah, we've got some serious talking to do, Loki… I don't even…"

"Hey, what's keeping you, you two? The fellows here are getting suspicious. We've got to go! Now!" Logan shouted at them from the door.

"The Tesseract," Loki sighed, watching at Emma, his fist clenched holding Coulson firmly on his place. "If Thor would obtain it before we do, he will use its powers to open the Bifrost once again and nothing would stop him taking me back to Asgard," he explained, the gaze of his eyes turning softer as he beheld her, "And I can think at least one good reason above everything else why I would not want to leave Earth; that is you, my love," he said gently, and Emma lifted her gaze at him again.

Coulson frowned for the dark, sweet-talking deity, pondering would Emma actually believe that. "Or, then Loki would use its powers to subjugate the whole human race. I'd place my bets to the second option."

"Shut up!" Loki and Emma both cried out at the agent in unison, and the man saw it wiser to obey.

_A Trickster, the god of mischief and 'a talented liar'._ She knew he was all those things but none of it mattered to her at the moment. "I too want to keep you here with me. If Thor should try to stand on our way then we'll deal with that problem if and when it comes. But now, Loki, please, we have to go!" Emma said, reaching out her chained hands to him.

Loki nodded with a delicate, approving smile and he let out a small "hm" while thinking, letting go of Coulson's collar. "My apologies. No hard feelings, right, my friend?" he said to the man, tidying a bit Coulson's wrinkled jacket, straightening his tie and padding his arm friendly, leaving the agent gawping after him.

Then Loki moved to Emma, taking her hands on his. "No more _crazy-ass_ stunts," he promised with a mild smile.

Emma chuckled a bit for his choice of words that sounded more like something she would have said. "That would be great," she agreed. "Thank you."

Loki pressed a kiss on her knuckles and saw that small flicker of love returning into her eyes. "Let us go then."

As they walked out from the cell together, Coulson cautiously moved after them but then stopped when found himself changing his appearance and even growing in height, a strange flow of magic transforming him looking like Loki. Coulson stared down at himself, his changed form and his odd black/green clothing, and slowly lifted his confused gaze at the two of them behind the glass wall where Loki took back his fake Coulson's form.

The cell's door closed in front of the agent. "Wait! How… how long this will last?" Phil Coulson asked, his tone getting a bit worried.

"I don't know," Loki said simply, also sounding like Coulson, giving the agent a smirk that looked wicked on _'Coulson's'_ face. "But, please, do send my regards to the Allfather once Thor gets you to Asgard."

"Loki, I don't want Coulson getting in trouble because of this," Emma said, hesitatingly walking away with Loki.

"I am sure he will be alright," Loki assured calmly, taking his new role as the agent Coulson with great dedication. "Come along now, Ms. Morgan, your freedom waits," he said putting his arm around her back, escorting her out.

"Was there a problem?" Logan asked opening up his helmet's vizier when Emma and Loki finally got to him at the door.

"No problems. We are ready to go," Loki stated, looking more than satisfied, glancing at Emma by his side. No matter how terribly wrong their first attempt of escape had gone, she had returned to him, harnessing her every possibility to help him out and persistently showing overwhelming loyalty and faith in him. He couldn't tell how she did that but she had become a clarifying flame, his sun, a bright light illuminating the darkness of his mind. And he wished not to let her down anymore.

**… …**

It had been ridiculously easy to get over the prison section's checkpoint in a disguise; Loki looking like agent Coulson, Logan dressed from head to toes as a STRIKE soldier and Emma just being herself in handcuffs. They hadn't done much of talking until they reached into the last long corridor leading to the elevator. The bullet holes on the walls gave Loki some nasty memories of that place and he took a step closer to Emma while walking with her, putting his hand protectively on her lower back.

Emma flinched at his touch, staring at him in confusion and frowning for a few seconds, her mouth gaping as if ready to tell him to back off.

Loki gave her a subtle smile. "It is alright, my Valkyrie," he whispered.

Emma heaved a sigh, a tiny smile with blush creeping on her face. "Jeez, for a moment there I forgot it was you. You were this close of getting a black eye," Emma said showing an inch with her fingers at him.

"Nice to see that you have not lost your fighting spirit," Loki chuckled mildly.

Then he gazed at the mysterious Logan, Emma's father, who had appeared as though from nowhere to their rescue. Loki was curious to know how had they met and why had he decided to help her (and him too) without even really knowing her. He pondered did the mortals' affection towards their family grow deeper in their hearts what he had thought. It made him thinking about his own true father who had abandoned him to die on a cold rock when he hadn't been eligible in the eyes of the Frost Giants.

He shook those negative thoughts off from his mind, keeping up a casual tone as he spoke to the man. "So, Logan. I am getting this warm and fuzzy feeling about us. Now when we all assumingly will become a one big happy family, what should I call you? Father? Old man? Daddy?"

Logan glanced at him but Loki couldn't read his expression that was hidden behind the vizier. "Don't push it, Fancy-pants! It's Logan. Mr. Logan to you," Logan growled at him in an annoyed voice. "Emma, once we'll get out of here, you tell this E.T. to call home!"

Loki frowned. "And what was that supposed to mean?"

"Maybe I haven't expressed myself clearly enough. I don't like you!"

"Well, luckily the feeling is mutual."

Walking between them two, Emma tried to remain normal as they were passing by the last surveillance camera on the corridor. "Could you two please just try to get alone?"

"Fine, but no more of that wiseass bullshit, bub, or I'll give you a back scratch with my claws!"

Emma could tell from the curves on Loki's forehead that he had something cleaver to say back at Logan and she hurried change the subject: "Um… Coulson was going to move me away from here today but I don't know their procedures and it could include some paper work. That's why I'm guessing I will be the only one of us who can't walk out from this building looking like this. So, if you don't mind, Loki?" she suggested as they stopped waiting for the elevator, being in the dead zone of the cameras. "Anything but a sheep, please."

"Leave it to me," Loki grinned, touching her shoulder lightly. She had given him a free hand to change her appearance and he was going to enjoy of it a bit.

As the elevator's doors opened, Emma stared at herself from a reflecting surface on the wall. "Okay, who was this guy again?" she asked in a bewilderment, her voice being her own but her reflection showing a tall, bald, black-skinned man with an eye patch. In slight of a shock she fingered her crotch over the black trousers. "Oh my god, do I actually have a penis down here?" she squealed, looking like Nick Fury.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Logan grunted at the trickstering alien, taking off her handcuffs while Emma looked like Fury. "No-one's turning my girl into a freaking guy! You change her back or I'll swear I'll…!"

"It's okay, Logan!" Emma tried to calm him down, which was a bit freaky when she looked like a big black guy with a girl's voice.

With Coulson's face Loki grinned as they stepped into the elevator, changing again her appearance. "Now, how about this one?" he asked and watched at Emma who walked next to him in a female form with red, shorter hair, wearing a tight dark jumpsuit, looking like Natasha Romanoff.

"I hate that shape-sifting shit. How do you put up with this guy?" Logan asked staring at Emma in her completely different outlooks.

"He's not so bad." Emma glanced at her reflection again with a relieved sigh, at least recognizing the face she now had. It was creepy when her reflection showed a strange face but it was a hell of a better than being an animal. "Well, this is much better. It's not that I liked her, but it's better than the first one."

The doors closed and the lift was in motion. Emma and Loki glanced at each other, both recalling their previous time in that same elevator that hadn't ended well, tension and concern flickering across their faces. At least now they were much further already.

"I swear to you it is going to be alright now, my dear," Loki assured to her again in a gentle voice, his own.

"I know. I have you with me."

Logan rolled his eyes under his helmet to that sentimental slush.

"So, we are going to walk out through the main hall. I've got a car parked in the parking garage. And so does this Coulson guy. It's a black Acura in the second park hall not very far from mine," Logan told handing Phil Coulson's car keys to Emma. "We should keep up the appearance and leave with separate cars until we are beyond the bridge."

As Logan kept explaining his plan, Emma felt a hand sliding down on her arse and she shot a questioning glare at Loki.

"Hm, definitely better," the trickster god took note murmuring in a small voice, his hand finding the cosiness of her tight butt.

It was not that she wouldn't have liked Loki's touch, she had been craving for it and wanting him, but the timing and the situation was awful, Logan there with them. And Loki was looking like Coulson. It made it even worse.

She elbowed him in stomach in embarrassment. "Quit it!"

Loki couldn't hide his grin giving her a sideways glance. "I thought you liked agent Coulson," he teased.

"Not that much!" Emma hissed. "Besides, I don't appreciate you go grabbing other women when you are with me."

They exchange looks, the corners of their mouths twitching, both holding back laughter. If it would have been just the two of them Loki would have stopped the elevator between the floors and showed her how much he had missed her; kissing her, lifting her in his arms and making love to her against the wall, making her forget every hardship she had ever faced. But that might have been the most stupid thing to do in the whole millennium. He had missed her so much that it was hard to keep his hands off her.

"Start behaving, you two! And, buddy, you are seriously cruising for bruising!" Logan said, not appreciating the alien guy making advances at his daughter, not in any form.

Loki pulled on his serious face, at least he tried. "You are absolutely right, sir. Please, do accept my most humble apology."

"Wiseass prick!" Logan snorted and turned at Emma. "Yeah, I can see now why you like him so much."

Emma wiped a corner of her eye, her smile fading slowly away as the elevator reached the zero floor and the doors opened. _It was show time!_

"Give us a break, will you. Logan, you saw those bullet holes on the walls. The last time we tried to escape we didn't get as much as this far. At least they had cleaned my brains from the walls," she said in a sad, ironic way and Logan turned at her with a frown. "A shot in the head slows me down in a nasty way. Loki could have managed out of here without me," she explained and then gazed at Loki only then realizing it. "Why didn't you run? You could have left me and gotten away on your own."

Loki gave her a pained look, wanting to touch her and hug her. That memory still haunted him. "And left you here alone on their mercy? To die? Never, my love! I failed you then but I swear I will never fail you again," he said and let their fingers brush as if to tell her in the most simple way that he was there with her now, and she squeezed his hand gently.

Emma returned his fond expression with a small loving smile. He was there under that fake face. "That is why I love him so much, Logan. And before you get even started, he has saved my life more than twice already."

Then she slipped into her role as the mean, red-head agent Romanoff as she stepped out from the elevator with _the Coulson-lookalike_, letting go of Loki's hand. The bustle in the main hall was getting her nervous, the people, all assumingly some kind of agents, going by here and there.

Loki, Logan and Emma glanced at each other, teaming up to get out from that place.

"So, which way to go?"

Logan stared at them two for a moment, taking a look at the bullet holes on the elevator's walls. Maybe, just maybe, it wasn't that bad idea she was being with the alien guy who could sneak her out from troubles. It surely seemed they cared about each other a lot. _They must have known each other for years._

"Alright, let's do this. Follow me!" Logan said and took the lead. "I need to get rid off these gears first."

**… …**

_Well, it wasn't actually love at first sight with Logan and Loki. Thank you for this year for sharing this story with me. We'll continue this in the next year. And the next chapter after 2 to 3 weeks. Merry Christmas and happy holidays! _


	24. 24 Third time's a charm

_Finally back here with a new chapter. I'm sorry I couldn't keep my promise with the update schedule, but for my excuse I have to say that our whole family suffered in nasty stomach flu for two weeks after the holidays and I had no time for writing. I don't recommend that to anyone. It was just awful! Never again!_

_I do hope your year has begun better than mine._

_Thank you for all the reviews. (SenSen-Chan, your kind comments keeps me going __:) __)_

_And thank you for favoriting and following the story._

_I'm afraid the next chapter too is still in progress and will take a few weeks to get it done._

**… …**

"Alright, I'll admit it I'm not that young anymore," Tony Stark grimaced as he pulled out a Coca Cola can from the vending machine and opened it with a fizz. "You want something from here?" he asked from Thor and took a long sip of his soda, placing then the cold can on his aching forehead.

He didn't find this punishment fitting for his crime. Last night he had been trying to get Thor drunk and revealing him the secrets of the mysterious Tesseract. What he had gained was a hangover of a life time. And Thor hadn't even gotten drunk at all.

"No, thank you," Thor said in an unhappy voice, glancing around him in the large main hall of the Triskelion building, where people were passing by looking busy.

He and Tony were coming from Nick Fury's office where Thor had been once again tried to convince the director to give him the Tesseract and the custody of his brother. And yet again Fury had refused him, and it was starting to make Thor thinking he should take matters into his own hands soon.

"Let's say if I would help you out finding the Tesseract, could we consider of sharing the profits?" Tony asked as they continued walking side by side across the great hall.

The god of thunder shot a grumpy glance at his companion. "It is not for sale."

"I'm not asking to sell it. Couldn't I only borrow it, just a little?"

Thor shook his head in disagreement. "That artefact originally belonged to Asgardians as it still should. Without it Loki and I might be trapped on this realm forever…"

Tony gave an annoyed but funny looking frown at his new Asgardian friend. "Oh, no-no-no-no! No way!" he huffed. "We need to find Phil. I can't take you with me to New York. Pepper won't have you sleeping on our couch… and neither will I," he explained and picked up his mobile phone from his pocket, turning it on and calling to agent Coulson.

It had been Phil Coulson who had asked him to keep an eye on the god of thunder, but he wasn't going to babysit Thor for much longer.

Thor watched amused but interested as Tony played with his little device, putting it on his ear. "What are you doing with that?" Thor asked.

"This is magic of our own. I can contact anyone I like with this little thingy. Just watch!" Tony said with a proud expression and waited for a moment. "It's ringing now."

From a distant Thor heard a small, odd peeping sound that almost drowned under the commotion in the hall. When he glanced at that direction he noticed a glimpse of the agent Coulson walking further away.

"That is an amazing contraption! It just found son of Coul," Thor said being impressed and hurried after the agent. "Son of Coul!" he shouted in a strong voice.

Some people turned and stopped, looking at him like he was a crazy person.

"Keep quiet, you are embarrassing us both!" Tony Stark grunted at him. "Besides, your voice is killing me."

"Son of Coul, I must speak with you!"

That familiar voice carrying through the crowd made Loki grimace as he strode across the great hall with Emma and Logan in their disguise.

"Oh, brilliant!" Loki murmured with a trace of irritation in his voice, in Coulson's form, as he saw his brother rushing towards him.

Lok wasn't stopping but running away would have been too obvious sign of telling that something was wrong. So, he just carried on walking briskly as if he wouldn't had heard Thor, touching lightly on Emma's back urging her to keep going.

Logan gave a quick look over his shoulder at the blond man in a red cape who seemed to be after them. "Who's that guy?" he asked as they kept hurrying towards the elevator that would take them to the parking house.

"He's trouble," Emma said shortly, doing her best to keep up in Loki's pace. She still looked like Natasha, and she had been carrying Coulson's phone when it had begun ringing. Nervously she rejected the call, but noticed that it was too late since Tony Stark waved his hand at them from a distant, far behind Thor.

"I knew it. I hate guys with capes. There is always something shady about them," Logan grunted and cast a frown at Loki, recalling that the alien boy also wear a green cape. "No offence there!"

Loki only smirked. "None taken. And, I am sure your barber did a marvellous job with you. I am sorry. When did he die? Must be a few decades ago."

"Hey!" Logan resented that remark. He liked his own style.

"Please, not now!" Emma whispered, trying to curb their verbal sparring.

Thor was almost upon them when they reached at the elevator. The doors opened conveniently for them when a small group of agents stepped out and the three of them went in.

"Son of Coul, did you not hear me?" Thor asked as he caught up with the fake Coulson who just moved into the elevator.

"Leave this to me," Loki said to Emma and Logan sounding assertive. He could tell from Emma's eyes that she was afraid and he winked at her with a tiny smile before turning to face his brother and fool him again in a fake form. "Thor. I did hear you but we are in a bit of a rush," he said calmly and pushed the elevator button, looking straight into Thor's eyes. "So, if you would excuse me."

The doors were closing between them but Thor pulled them back open, unsettling with his situation. "We must speak now!" Thor insisted, holding the doors open with his both hands, standing big in the doorway of the elevator.

He took note that his brash gesture made the red-haired female agent uneasy which he found hard to believe since a few days ago she had been ready to put a bullet in his head. "Natasha," he gave her a small nod of head as a greeting and she returned it with a small reluctant smile.

"You strayed off from the fancy-dress party, bub?" Logan asked frowning, staring at the big blond Asgardian. Big boys like that didn't scare him.

That question and the cheesed off tone of Logan's voice made Emma smirk, but she didn't dare to say a word. Her voice was her own even her appearance wasn't, and by talking with Thor could have blown her cover.

Thor glanced quickly at his outfit. "This is my own clothing," he said slightly offended by the comment of the strange man with mighty sideburns. Then he returned back to the subject. "Director Fury refuses to listen to reason about the Tesseract..."

The fake Coulson pulled a serious face, taking a step closer to Thor and glancing around him suspiciously, to the left and to right at the people further away. "I'm afraid you're right, my friend. It seems possessing the Tesseract has driven Fury beyond reason. He wishes to harness its powers against you and your kind and against everyone who dares to question his authority," Loki told in a silent voice, placing his hand on Thor's shoulder, subtly escorting him away from the lift's doorway.

Thor got more serious too. "Why would he want to do that?"

"It is not just that. I fear the Tesseract isn't the only thing he had kept hidden from you. I just found out that he hasn't been completely honest with you about _Jane Foster_."

Thor looked even more worried. "What about Jane? You promised me she would be safe."

The fake Coulson hushed him down. "I know. I know, my friend. And I will do all I can to help. But it's not safe to speak here. There's something I have to check up first, so please, wait me here. I will return shortly to pick you up. Trust no one!" he said nearly whispering as he stepped back into the lift backwards. The elevator's doors were closing again when he added: "And Thor, if I'm not back in 20 minutes you might have to take things into your own hands."

"No, wait!" Thor yelped but the cold steel doors were already closed and he lifted his hands against them, the doubt filling his mind if this S.H.I.E.L.D would to be trusted at all. He hadn't have time to think about Jane enough, and he had been in full trust that she would be alright as Coulson had earlier promised to him. But now he wasn't sure anymore.

Thor turned around and glanced at the clock high on the wall. _Twenty minutes!_ If Coulson wasn't back in twenty minutes he would return to Fury's office and beat the whereabouts of Jane out of him and the location of the Tesseract as well. _What about Coulson? Was the agent in some soft of trouble too?_

Tony Stark reached by Thor's side in front of the elevator, taking a sip from his soda can and revealing a big, dreamy smile. "So," he begun, stretching the word in a soft voice, "when we're done here, I was thinking you could come into my place. We'll open a bottle of good wine, soak in a bubble bath together and I could rub your feet. What do you say?"

Thor lifted his worry-filled gaze at the man, his expression slowly turning into a puzzled, greatly disagreeable frown after that morally offensive question. "I would say I have to decline… but thank you for asking," he formed his answer as politely as he could.

Tony gave him a gaping, curious glower, rubbing his chin. "Um… what are you wearing under your little dress today?"

Bemused the god of thunder took a step back. "That is really none of your concern!"

Tony snorted, amused, combing his fingers through his hair. "Pepper, I have to call you again later. There is one big blond next to me who wants to interrupt our evening plans," he said and picked up his phone from his pocket, the hands free earpiece of it in his ear. "Alright. I love you too. Buy."

"You weren't talking to me?" Thor asked cautiously.

"Nope! Sorry. But I'm a bit offended by your refusal. That have only happened to me once before," Tony grinned.

**… …**

Down in the big parking house Coulson's black Acura purred softly when Emma started the engine, swinging jazz music beginning to play from the car's stereo. The music made her smile a bit confused, being sorry that they had left the real Coulson locked up inside Loki's cell.

She took a moment to figure out the automatic gear selector and other controls of the vehicle. She had never driven a car that expensive before. It must have been a nice employee benefit or then the S.H.I.E.L.D agents made a decent salary. _Maybe she should have taken the job Coulson had offered her._

Emma and Loki were finally alone in the car after all the hassle they've gone through. Logan had gone getting his own not so luxury campervan and was about to take the lead, and they were to follow, keeping up the appearance of the agents to get out without anymore questioning.

Satisfied Emma beamed at Loki who sat next to her in the front seat. "Buckle up, Stud-muffin!" she said smoothly with a cool smile, "I promise this will go a lot faster than the SnowCat."

"Hm, you do know I enjoy speed, my Valkyrie." Loki looked at her with a sideways glance, his grin broadening by that name of an endearment she had called him with. It was probably the most stupid thing he had ever heard but said by her it sounded the sweetest pet name he had ever gotten.

He had grown so fond of her true essence that it didn't matter what form she was in even he admitted that her red-head form wasn't bad either. "So, no regrets?" he asked and placed his hand over hers on the shifter.

"No regrets, no matter what happens next."

Loki leaned closer to her just wanting to be near her. "How about a kiss then?" he asked gently, touching her cheek with the back of his fingers.

Emma nearly shied away from his touch. "Sorry. Not with that face," she faltered, finding the thought of kissing him while he looked like Coulson too damn creepy.

"Why not just close your eyes? You know it's me," he entreated with his own honey voice.

Hearing Loki's own voice made her melt inside. "Oh, you're taking the role-playing to a whole new level," Emma whispered, closing her eyes, feeling his lips on hers, feeling him kissing her the same sweet way he always did.

It was their first kiss in freedom and it tastes sweet. But when she opened her eyes, meeting with his gaze, she jerked her head back, not finding his beautiful green eyes but instead the agent's face too close to hers.

"_Yikes!_ This is so wrong! Let's not do that again," she grimaced and put on the reverse and just then noticed two male agents who were staring at them from the car parked next to theirs. "Oh great!" she murmured feeling ill at ease staring back at them as the men got out from their vehicle.

"Just act casual," Loki advised with a smile and waved his hand at them.

The agents had just witnessed Coulson and Romanoff kissing and they waved back slightly stupefied and left, probably thinking that Phil Coulson had to be the luckiest son of a bitch in the whole agency.

"_Agent Romanoff, you'll thank me later_," Emma smirked, only imagining what kind of rumours their kiss would bring among the agents of the S.H.I.E.L.D.

She waited a moment until the men were out of their sight and put the car in motion, backing up from the parking spot.

The car rocked suddenly and stopped moving like it would have crashed into a wall, and Emma noticed a front of a big, black SUV they had banged their bumper against. It had come out of nowhere right behind them.

"_Shit!_" she cursed giving Loki a quick worried glance. "This is just what we needed!"

"Everything is fine. Let me handle this," Loki said, unbuckling his seatbelts and opening the door. He stepped out of the car and so did Emma.

The driver of the SUV and his friends, all three of them, didn't look too friendly as they approached the fake Coulson and fake Natasha. They were all big brutes having a look of badass soldiers and they wore matching black outfits like some light version of a commando group on a vacation. _The guys from the STRIKE team!_

"Oh, man! Sorry about that. That was all my fault. I didn't see you coming there," the driver said in an apologetic voice checking the crushed side of his SUV. "Are you two alright?"

For some reason he didn't look too sorry though. His expensive car had taken a damage that would take more than just some paintjob to fix it. And Emma knew that technically it had been more of her fault.

"No harm done. And I am terribly sorry. This was the first and the last time I let my associate drive my car," Loki said giving a perfect imitation of Coulson's manners to the men.

"It's OK. That's why the insurances are for," the black-haired driver said carelessly moving closer to Loki while one of the men stepped on the other side of the car in front of Emma. "Agent Coulson, right?"

Loki could sense that something was very wrong even the situation was entirely new to him and he shot a short glance at Emma. He hadn't ever had to deal with a car insurances policy in Asgard. They simply didn't have any. "Yes, I am."

"Well, let's get the paperwork out of the way then," the man said and his quiet companion gave him a file and a pen which he handed out to the fake Coulson. "Just sign on the bottom rows and we're done here."

Emma knew something wasn't right here or then crashing cars was everyday life for these people. The tough guys looked unfriendly while keeping an eye on her and Loki. They looked some how being on the edge and just as if waiting.

_They knew!_ she realized, horrid. _But why hadn't they come there with their full combat gears? Why only a few guys?_

And just as if her questions had been answered another big car, a black van, circled slowly next to the SUV and four more guys with similar outfits got out and moved in, checking what was going on there.

"Everything alright here?" one of the new fellows asked from the driver of the SUV.

Emma didn't like getting any more crowd. The whole thing felt too much like a set-up.

The leading man nodded rubbing his stubbled chin. "Yeah, just a little dent on the side. You know, female drivers, right?" The men let out a small, uneasy laugh glancing at Emma. "Sorry, no offence, agent Romanoff. I know you can drive better than most of my men. "

Emma could only shrug even she would have loved to share her thoughts about his sexist comment. _But now was not the time to stand up for a sister!_

Loki remained perfectly calm and flipped the file open, glancing at the odd papers. "An authorization agreement? What is this?"

"Just sign the paper, sir!" the driver said in a colder tone. "With that authorization you'll hand over the custody of Emma Morgan to us. The STRIKE will deal with her for now on. We'll relocate her as director Fury ordered and you'll be one problem shorter."

Emma felt her heart jumping up into her throat. Those men actually looked very much the same as the guarding soldier she had killed in the Helicarrier, _that Hydra bastard_. They had that same cold confident and the stench of trouble.

_Were they all of the Hydra? Had agent Coulson really been trying to protect her from them or had he been thinking of selling her out?_

Loki lifted his gaze from the papers at the men and threw the file on the ground at the drivers feet (as the real Coulson might have done). "No, I'm afraid that is not possible," he said firmly. "Ms. Morgan has been already relocated. If you don't mind now, we need to go."

A mild annoyance flared on the driver's face. "Where is she, agent Coulson?"

Loki gave Emma an encouraging glance as though telling that everything was alright. "Safe. Why are you so interested of her? You are not the Hydra, are you?"

The man glanced at his fellows and answered that with a dry smile. "Sir… I was kind of hoping you wouldn't stick you nose into the matters that doesn't belong to you. We hate to clean up the mess!" he said with a grimace and pulled out his pistol, and so did the rest of the STRIKE guys, all aiming at the fake agents. "It's nothing personal, sir. We'll find the little bitch no matter where you've hidden her. Oh, and we'll be taking the Asgardian too. Secretary Price would like to cut that freak open and see does he have a heart."

Emma threw her hands up in a fright, staring at the armed men, four pistols pointing at her and the other four at Loki. She knew they had come for her and Loki, the Hydra's people, unaware that they were actually looking at them. With that realization came the rage surging over her, the freezing wave going through her forearms preparing her for a fight.

And before she or the fake Coulson had made another move, the men shot at them into the head and chest. Professional kills without a single bit of remorse or hesitation. Their bodies collapsed on the ground, the car separating them from each other. And all of it had happened in a heartbeat.

**… …**

Logan was sitting in his old campervan, pondering what the hell he was doing. He had only just met his daughter. He didn't know her well enough yet and already he was helping her to escape from some government's agency with that fucking alien boyfriend of hers.

His life had been nice and quiet, and he feared that those cosy days were soon over, the S.H.I.E.L.D. coming now after him and his kid. But one thing was sure, he wouldn't let them catch her again.

He was about to start the engine when he saw a black SUV speeding like crazy and then came the sound of shrieking breaks and a soft, kind of metallic impact sound.

_A fucking idiot!_ That was his first reaction as he gazed through the dirty side window towards the sounds. The big, black van passed him driving much slower into the same direction.

There were fifteen cars between his camper and Coulson's car and he didn't have a clear vision what was going on but then he got a bad feeling. _They couldn't simply have so bad luck that the SUV had crashed with Emma's vehicle, right?_

"Oh fuck!" Logan groaned, recalling that the '_Murphy's law'_ existed in this world. Their escape had been almost too easy on so far.

Swiftly he jumped out from his vehicle and notice the SUV parked right in front of the agent Coulson's Acura, actually bumped into its rear, the black van next to it.

At first Logan walked calmly towards them, thinking annoyed _what the hell was it now_. Then he saw the eight brute-looking fellows lurking around the car with their weapons and his pace grew faster, and to his dismay the men fired their pistols, shooting at Emma and Loki in their disguises.

The slightly muffled shots of the multiple firearms made him stop in his tracks, not in fear but in pure shock, seeing two people being executed before his eyes. It was not that he hadn't seen people killed before, he had done a quite lot killing by himself.

_But that was his daughter in there!_

"Threw the bodies into the van!" the driver ordered to his fellow men hastily, checking time from his wristwatch. "The surveillance cams are off only for ten more minutes!"

Those words said by one of the men and the quickly aroused thought of loosing his newly found daughter made Logan go berserk and he ran at the men without a second thought, pulling out his claws like a fierce beast.

When the brutes were about to grab Coulson's and Natasha's bodies up from the ground, the both dead bodies vanished with a golden flow before they eyes, leaving the men utterly confused, realizing they had fucked up something severely here.

And then the first of the men saw Logan in a split of second before the adamantium claws stabbed through his chest with a force that alone could have killed him.

_The fight was on!_

**… …**

Emma felt a safe arm around her as she was pushed against a width concrete pillar, Loki's body leaning protectively against hers and his palm over her mouth to keep her quiet. All she knew, she had felt him taking a hold of her, spinning her around really fast and then she had heard the gun firing and seeing herself (in Natasha's form) being killed by the head shot. And now they were momentarily safe, only 20 feet away from their hunters.

His illusions were becoming more and more vivid and impressive every time he cast them.

Loki looked down at her with a small smile holding her gently. He was having his own appearance again. "You are safe. Are you hurt?" he asked whispering and taking his hand slowly away from her mouth.

"I'm fine," she whispered back at him, staring up into his eyes, her arms around him. "Thanks," she sighed more than grateful then noticing the pain in her hands and seeing her own icy claws peeking from behind his shoulders. "Forget what I said about the killing. Those creeps are from the Hydra and they have a serious death wish."

She realized that they would have killed Coulson in cold blood for standing up for her and they would have captured her and Loki for God knows what.

Loki knew exactly what to do with them. "Stay here! Let me deal with them," Loki told her his hands on her shoulders.

"No!" Emma whispered to him hastily. "We'll do it together and damn right won't show any mercy."

"Oh, that is so unlike you. I love it," Loki said in a quiet, appreciating tone and kissed her. She tasted wild and sweet like that untamed side of hers, like freedom, and freedom had never tasted that good before.

Loki gave one valuating look at her claws, taking a gentle hold of her hand and letting his other hand slide down on her waist. He didn't have weapons of his own anymore (since Thor had taken them all away from him) but she seemed to have some for both of them. "May I have that dance now?" he asked in an inviting voice.

Emma grinned like a little devil, pressing her body against his. "You lead and I'll follow."

"Set the beast loose, my love. And don't worry, I am with you now."

**… …**

When Logan jumped at the first unaware evil prick with a roar, sinking his claws into the man's chest, the rest of them started firing at him. Logan took a few shots but the pain was only fuel to his rage as he kept coming on hard and slashed the second one dead, the blood gushing from the deep cuts in the man's chest and throat.

And the time Logan took down his third guy, Loki and Emma emerged behind the driver, the leading guy, who never saw it coming, Loki guiding Emma, her glimmering claws piercing the man's back. The man groaned in pain when she pulled her icy spikes off him and not so gently kind of way, getting the scent of his blood.

_It was extreme self-defence; kill or get killed!_

"You were looking for me, _you fucking prick_? Well, you found me!" she hissed at him fiercely as he turned around to face her with difficulty, Loki stripping him from his weapons.

She didn't want to kill him and she had no desire staying for a chat. The sounds of the battle echoing in the large parking hall was keeping her on the edge; the men's grunting and gun firing while Logan fought with the rest of them in an unstoppable rage.

The driver watched at her as if in a quick recognition gasping. "Morrison?" he rasped out with a pained, twisted smile-alike, like he'd have known her a way better than she knew him. "The Hydra will find you… you bitch! And Coulson… or the SHIELD can't protect you…"

Anger flashed in her eyes. She hated the man. She hated that former name of hers that brought too much unwanted memories and stripped the clarity of her mind for a moment. And she shoved her claws into the man's chest.

"Fuck the Hydra!" she roared like a mad, breaking off her icy claws inside of the bastard while twisting her fist away from him.

Loki slammed the man unmercifully up against the wall with a crushing force, his limp body then dropping on the ground in front of Coulson's car.

Emma watched her hand and the revealed small bony claws that had been hiding under the thick ice layer. New claws of ice grew from the stubs between her knuckles, replacing the cut off ones and covering the bone again completely. She gasped utterly confused, and Loki shared her wonder, since that looked exactly how the Frost Giants summoned their icy blades.

She had not time to think. And she had no time for remorse even a part of her hated it what she was doing to another human beings.

With an encouraging smile Loki offered his hand to her again while sending an energy blast towards an approaching bad guy. And sparing only one more glance at the fallen leader, she leaned in to Loki and they continued their deadly dance, vanishing and dodging the random shots, and reappearing when taking the men down one by one.

The rest of the STRIKE guys never knew what they had up against, the battle being diverted into two directions. All of it happening too fast around them.

To Loki the battle was like a game of chess, him valuating his opponents and their every move. But Emma fought with her primal instincts, letting loose her darker side, knowing that Loki was there with her taming the beast if she couldn't. And Loki sheltered her with every step, showing her a whole new way to fight, for the first time ever taking pleasure of this violent game, the art of killing, taking down their mutual enemies together.

The last one of the STRIKE guys still standing was big, as tall as Loki, and Logan showed no mercy when he plunged his blades into the big brute, finishing his job in more brutal and straight forward manner until the Hydra henchman were all down, and he stopped when he saw Emma and Loki before him, both unharmed.

He had noticed them fighting as one and he was starting to appreciate Loki's way of protecting her. To his surprise she was spotless. Not a single bullet or a hand had touched her even she had faced the armed bastards with her bare hands, with some extra claws though. And he guessed that she being alive was much thanks to the alien boy.

Logan was slightly out of breath, staring at them two, a great relief filling his eye. He pulled his claws back in while taking a step closer and Emma followed his example retracting hers. "You're alive!" he observed with a rueful smile in a grateful tone.

"Yeah," Emma breathed out, looking at him and his several bullet holes in his clothes nearly horrid. "Logan, are you alright?"

"I'm alright, kid. You?"

She glanced at Loki by her side who was still holding his arm around her. They were both fine. "Never been better!" she said with an unbelieving smile. She was still high with adrenaline but the remorse of the killing was stalking her.

Loki felt a bit disappointed that the fun had been so short-lived thanks to Logan showing up. And he was slightly intimidated by Logan's huge steel claws. _Logan hadn't been making jests about his claws!_ _Damn, Emma was her father's daughter!_ _And yet she was so much more than that._

"I am sure there will be more of them. So, unless you don't want a rematch here, I am suggesting that we should leave. Now!" Loki said, a strong ordering tone in his voice, stepping in front of the SUV that was blocking their way.

"Okay! We could take their car…" Emma begun hastily but silenced, watching as Loki took a good grip from the bumper of the SUV and shoved the vehicle four car lengths backwards with his strength and a little help of a spell.

"Wow!" she gasped in awe, her hormones taking the best of her while watching him. _He was so strong!_ Her god of mischief was such a sexy badass that she could only grin like an idiot.

"Humph! You're overdoing it, _Fancy-pants_!" Logan scoffed but smile with a mild approval. "But I guess you're not completely rotten."

Loki furrowed his brows with a questioning smirk. "Now was that a compliment?"

"I don't do compliments. So, back to the original plan, kids! We'll get the hell out of here and fast!" Logan grunted.

**… …**

Thor had told Tony that agent Coulson had asked them to wait and Tony took a seat on a bench, taking an opportunity to check his emails from his phone. Thor had been pacing nervously back and forth only a couple of minutes when he saw that Natasha Romanoff had returned. She stood in front of the elevators waiting for a lift. He took note that she was wearing different clothes; a light brown leather jacket, white shirt under it and blue jeans.

She gave Thor a questioning look when the god of thunder approached her with haste. "What's up?" she asked.

"Where is son of Coul?" Thor asked worry in his voice as he realized she had came back alone.

Natasha shrugged carelessly guessing he was talking about agent Coulson. "How should I know? I haven't seen him today. I was seeing my friend who's…"

"But did you not just…?"

"What?" Natasha asked, and took note that two male agents were staring at her with oddly friendly smiles (like they would have seen her naked in the bath) while they walked pass her.

"Um… nothing," Thor murmured, thinking quickly. He stared at the small red-head, frowning in a doubt, hunching down at her. "What was the first thing I said to you when we met on that hill?"

Natasha glanced at him with that _'what the hell?'_ expression. "As I recall, you told me to leave it to you to find your brother before I pulled my gun at you. Now that you mentioned it, you were really condescending towards me. Why you ask?"

"Just checking," Thor thought aloud as he was beginning to understand what was going on. "Sorry about that, though… being condescending and all towards you…" he uttered ungainly as he was already hastening through the hall, dodging other people on his way towards the main doors.

He lifted his hand up, summoning his hammer that he had been forced to left in the security check point.

Mjölnir rushed towards him, smashing through a wall, people screaming while dodging it, making the guards alarmed. Luckily the hammer flew high above their heads before it reached into his grip, meeting him on the half way out.

"Sorry!" Thor shouted to the alarmed folk with an apologetically grimace as he kept running out from the main doors jumping over the security gates.

Tony watched him go and went to Natasha. "Wow, what did you tell him? Free mead for the first 10 customers in the Central's bars?"

"Nothing special. What's with all of you today?" Natasha pondered and saw when the two male agents were talking to one of their colleagues further away and they all glancing at her direction with surprised grins.

"He's grumpy because Fury refused to give him that Tesseract, whatever it is. So, where did you leave agent Coulson?"

Natasha was getting annoyed of the weird atmosphere around her and she glowered at Tony under her curved brows. "I haven't seen Phil Coulson today. Okay? Why you two keep thinking that I would spend my spare time with him? He's my boss. Nothing more!"

Tony's grin diminished when he too got the picture. "Then who was it that went with Phil just a moment ago to the parking looking just like you?"

Natasha gasped, rolling her eyes, taken aback.

"Loki?" they both realized in unison.

"No way!" she huffed and stopped the first guard that came by, flashing him her IDs. "Hey! I'm agent Romanoff. This is an emergency. Code 13. Tell the security not to let agent Coulson leave this building! Or anyone who's looking like me."

"Damn it!" Tony grunted and contacted his A.I. friend. "Time to suit up again, Jarvis! Send me the Mark 6 prototype!"


	25. 25 Under sinister storm clouds

Loki didn't have to be a psychic to tell that Emma was troubled. It felt like Greenland again but this time those emotions of hers weren't caused by him. He sat by her side watching at her compassionately as she drove the agent's car through the maze-like parking house. She seemed to be more than nervous since she had remained quiet, not doing her usual silly chattering, and Loki tried to think of something to say to ease her mind.

He watched the tail-lights of the old campervan distancing on the other side of the great parking hall as they were following Logan. "You father does not like me," Loki reflected aloud to end the silence. "And I am quite certain that he never will."

Emma returned from her thoughts and glanced at Loki curiously, almost surprised. "Weren't you the king of Asgard once, _bub_?" She grinned and tried to imitate a _Logan-style_ frown, making Loki grin back at her. "Do you really care what Logan thinks about you?"

"Not really. But it would be nice if your father wouldn't hate me, though. Our relation is already held in disfavour among everyone else on this planet…"

Emma had been fully concentrating with driving but now she gave him a longer fondly look. Even he didn't say it aloud but that had sounded like Loki would have been planning their future together, her furious and cranky daddy included.

That affectionate expression of hers made Loki melt inside and yet getting awkward. "Oh, I know that expression. You made me pour out something idiotically sentimental off my mouth again."

Emma smiled to him. "No. That just made you sound more human."

"Which I am not."

"I know and I wouldn't have you any other way."

Loki bit his lips amused. "It is just that your father, of all the people, might be the most terrifying man on this planet. And honestly, I would not want to cross him. You did see him fight?"

"You are not afraid of him, are you?"

"Hardly!" Loki snorted. "No, I am only afraid of your reactions if I should ever cross swords with him. You seemed to have imprinted on him already."

"Why do you make it sound as if I'm an animal?" She noticed Loki's raised eyebrows and she let out a short chuckle. _She was the Wolverine's cub!_ "Don't answer that! If I'm imprinted to anyone that'll be you."

They had left a lot behind from Logan. The daylight shone brighter from the end of a long driveway like a sign for freedom and Emma sped up with a hope that they could drive into the sunset and never look back.

They were reaching the exit when the red warning lights started blinking next to the gates and a closable barrier was coming down blocking their way as the massive doors were about to seal up the garage.

_So, their escape had been noticed! But she wouldn't let them been trapped inside there. Not now._

Not even thinking about any other option Emma hit the gas and the car spurt forward with the speed that surprised her, the motor roaring like a lion in heat.

"I never thought I would ask this but are you mad?" Loki cried out at her, holding on from the armrests as they rammed through a parking barrier gate. The broken pieces of the barrier banged over the windshield.

"Hell yes!" Emma screamed in panic only doing her best to keep the vehicle on the right lane, the tires shrieking lightly against the tarmac.

The thick armour-plated doors were rising from the floor and coming down from the ceiling like a huge closing up clam.

The black Acura rushed out just in the nick of time before the doors sealed close, the lower door scratching the bottom of the car under the trunk, giving it a rough shake, loosening the tail pipe, leaving it dragging under the car loosely. One more second later and they would have been crushed.

Once they managed out from the parking, in front of them opened a wide open view along a long bridge leading over the Potomac river to the mainland, the west side of the Capital city looming further ahead.

Cloudy grey afternoon's sky had never looked that beautiful.

Emma had noticed the massive gates closing behind them form the rear-view mirror and she glanced at Loki. They were both panting with the excitement and let out a relieved laughs being lucky that they had made it out alive.

Their joy was too early as they noticed another spiky barrier rising from the driveway in front of the toll gates on the mid way of the 6 lanes width bridge. No vehicle managed to go through of those thick, long, steel spikes.

At the same time the sky fell dark above them and it looked like storm was rising fast and ominously.

"Oh for fuck's sake!" Loki barked with an annoyed grimace watching up at the darkening sinister sky. _Not Thor! Not now!_

Emma shot him a bewildered glance. She had never heard him talking with such language and it nearly made her giggle like crazy.

And all of a sudden, as she turned her eyes back at the road, she saw the god of thunder landing in front of them like some superhero his red cape fluttering in the wind. There he stood between them and the barricaded toll gates.

Loki glowered at his brother who had figured out his scheme of escape. "Drive him into the spears!" he said angrily in an undertone.

"No! He's your brother!" Emma reminded and hit the brake, managing to make the car to stop 10 feet away from Thor, the tires shrieking against the tarmac. A gentle touch of the break could have worked better.

Their bodies jerked forward by the force of the sudden stop, the seatbelts keeping them safely on their seats. She was fine but that quick impact with the seatbelts knocked the wind out of her.

"Are you alright?" Loki asked her, concerned, yanking off his seatbelts.

She lifted her hand and nodded with a grimace. "I'm fine," she wheezed. "Go get him!"

Watching at the runaways inside the vehicle Thor knew that his hunch had served him right and he gave a disapproving shake of head. _Pretty clever scheme though_, he had to admit. Loki would had send him to wreaking havoc on the S.H.I.E.L.D. Thor was beginning to realize that maybe Loki had allured him to go crusading in Jotunheim as well. He was starting to see a pattern here.

Loki gritted his teeth and hopped off from the car in a huff, taking note that they were again on a bridge that would decide their fate;

Below them streamed a wide, deep river.

In front of them beyond the barriers and the city loomed freedom.

And behind him in the SHIELD's nest waited certain imprisonment.

Loki got a nasty prominent feeling of a rematch; a battle to the end from which only one of them could walk out alive. And at the same time he knew they had no time for a fight; all the agents and Ironman would soon be upon them and the game would be over.

Loki sucked in a breath. Instead of feeling completely mad and angry as hell, he felt nearly heart-broken like he would have already lost without lifting a finger. He approached his brother, they both having their Asgardian appearance, their capes waving in the wildly blowing wind.

"Thor! Why can you not just leave me be?" Loki roared in helpless frustration. "What have I ever done to you?"

"Where do you want me to start?" Thor gave a sour look at first, but then his expression turned more rueful. "Loki," he sighed in a compassionate voice, putting down his hammer, taking a step closer unarmed. "I do not want to be on the warpath with you. Why do we keep doing this, my brother?"

Loki looked at his brother as if shocked. "Why?" he echoed, his voice quivering. To him it felt like everything unfair in his life was cumulating into that very moment, Thor overshadowing him in every turn.

"You have always had everything you have ever desired, and more, and you have taken it all for granted. Asgard was already yours. All I wanted was to be left in peace."

He cast a sorrowful gaze behind Thor who was standing on his way of freedom. His whole body responded to every deep breath he took to calm himself down, keeping the dolour at bay. "This would have been my last chance to start anew here."

"I will not let your cravings for power and revenge destroy the peace of this realm."

Loki glanced at Emma who had gotten out of the car and moved closer to him. Meeting her concerned gaze made his expression altering softer. There simply was something about her that he found disarming, her concern of him allaying his hatred.

"Well maybe in the end, it was not this world I would have been after," he said, his eyes brimming with tears as he turned back at Thor. "Do I have no right for a change of heart like you did? You, in your foolish righteousness, won't allow me even the scraps of joy in this life. I guess you assumed that I should have already gotten used to it by now, right, brother?" He lifted his hand when Thor was about to say something. "Yes, I understand, I have done serious mistakes. But so have you."

Thor frowned. Stormy wind was blowing harder on the bridge and the sky was getting darker above them.

"I need no lecturing, especially from you. You cannot talk your way out of this, Loki. How many more have died with your attempt to escape? And agent Coulson? What have you done to him? I swear if you have harmed him I..." Thor begun.

"Agent Coulson is fine!" Emma assured, abruptly joining the sensitive parley. The whirling gale made her loose hair flying wildly in the wind and she gathered them off from her face. "We've got out without anyone getting hurt!" _At least no one important getting hurt!_ she reasoned to herself after lying so fluently, and Loki gave her a questioning glance.

Cautiously Emma circled Thor and went to Loki, watching at them both, hoping she wasn't disturbing something crucial between them. To her great concern Loki looked nothing like his normal charmingly mischievous self. No, he looked shattered and low-spirited, and she wanted to support him.

On her way to him she faced an unexpected sight as she took a look at the S.H.I.E.L.D. building, the source of the tempest wind unveiling to her. A huge hurricane had swallowed the whole building complex. The raging, whirling unnatural storm let nothing through, keeping the agents tightly inside the buildings and even forcing the Quinjets staying on the ground. And there were lightnings striking inside the tornado.

Amazed by the sight but concerned of her favourite god creature, Emma stepped close to Loki, taking a hold of his hand, whispering his name gently like telling that she was there with him.

Loki squeezed her hand but nodded towards the toll gates with a pleading look. "Emma, please go!" he whispered.

"Not without you." She mustered up her courage as she looked at Thor. "Whatever it is between you two, you can continue it somewhere else. We are leaving. Thor, if it's true what you told me, if you really love your brother, then please help us."

"You may go, Emma Morgan. This matter is beyond you," Thor said, giving her only a quick glance, keeping his focus on Loki.

She felt like she was standing helplessly between two unstoppable forces of nature, unable to change the course of neither one of them. And it made her angry and frustrated.

"Hey, buddy! Who the hell do you think you are? I won't tolerate any bullshit from anyone who's trying to stop us. You could be the damn king of the whole fucking universe all I care but I will not let you cage Loki again!" Emma said, sounding very convincing for a mere little mortal, stepping in front of Loki.

"Your mocking will not help him. Leave while you still can!"

Emma opened her arms, ready to shove her claws out. "If you want him, you'll have to go through me first!"

"_Emma_," Loki sighed in a given up tone, placing his hands on her shoulders and pulling her closer. "This is not your fight, my love," he said over her shoulder and grabbed her hands in his, stopping her from hurting herself with her claws.

His soft hold felt like a small sanctuary in that storming chaos around them, and she peeked at him over her shoulder. "You're right. It's our fight. I said we'll deal with Thor… one way or the other."

That small, foolhardy woman really was the only one who relentlessly stood up for him and he wished he would have had her with him in Asgard years ago. He could have turned out to be a very different kind of man having her by his side.

He couldn't bear the thought of her get hurt again. To his small relief he saw Logan's campervan curving back behind the road barrier, and the claw-man himself jumping out from his vehicle.

Loki turned her around to facing him and with a fondly, gentle smile he watched down at her, caressing her cheek, memorising her every loving feature, her smile and brightness of her blue eyes. "Emma, go to your father, I will follow you a bit later," he whispered and pressed a kiss on her forehead.

Emma glanced at her father over her shoulder and returned her doubtful eyes back at Loki. She could tell he was planning something again, and that might not be anything good.

"I'm not leaving you here, Loki," she said and took a hold from his hands, looking deep into his emerald eyes like trying to figure out what he was planning.

**… …**

There was no force in the world that could have stopped Logan saving his daughter now. With his claws Logan cut the spiky steal barriers making his way thru the obstacles with ease. He had a bad feeling about that blonde guy with a red cape who had tried to stop them earlier as well and he prepared for some serious fight. When he saw the raging tornado he could only wish that it would have been made by Storm.

"Let's go kids!" he shouted to Emma and Loki, walking confidently towards them all, his deadly blades sticking out from his clenched fists, his arms width on his sides. "Emma and Fancy-pants, get into the van and go! Leave the He-man to me!"

The situation was really freaking out Emma and she lifted her hand at Logan. "Logan, don't! You need to sit this one out! They are both practically immortals!" she told in an uneasy tone and glowered at Thor. "Thor, that is my father, so don't you dare to even think about hurting him!"

Thor and Loki too, looked astonished by the sight of Logan with his blades who cut his way through the steel spares like those were made from cardboard. Just in case, Thor summoned his hammer into his grasp if the man (with swords sticking out from his hands) would get as nasty as he looked like. That easily might have been the scariest man on Midgard. And he could tell now where Emma had gotten her icy blades.

"_That_ is her father?" Thor asked sounding slightly uneasy.

At first Loki grinned inwardly for Thor's worried look. It would have been so damn easy to let Logan deal with Thor and buy him and Emma some time to run. In fact Logan with his claws and incredibly fast healing abilities just might have had a chance to beat Thor.

There was a lot going on inside his calculative mind. But then Loki realized that his old habits died hard. He couldn't allow that to happen. Emma would have never forgiven him if Logan would have gotten killed in a fight with Thor because of him. And somewhere deep down it touched him that the man he hardly knew would have defended him even so that the same man disliked him. It was all because of her, _his Emma._ Loki was getting strong vibes that Logan would have done anything for his daughter, even protect those she cared about.

And just then it occurred to him that Emma might be safer with her father than she was with him. He could have continued this cat and mouse game with his brother forever. But with what price? He couldn't keep dragging her along, just waiting the day she would get severely hurt.

To his sorrow it seemed it was time to redeem a promise he had given to her. She had seen him differently than anyone else and forced him to open his eyes to see that he was much more than just a Trickster. So, perhaps it truly was time to live up to those expectations.

Loki shifted his attention to his brother, straightening his posture and facing his fate. "Thor, you won; I yield," he submitted to his brother's will with an _IF_, "if you swear to me that Emma can go free and those people will leave her in peace." He swallowed hard, glancing at her, and continued in a feeble but grievous tone. "This war is over for me. No more lies. No more tricks. Damn me into any dungeon you see it fit but you promise me that she will be free and remain unharmed!"

Emma stared at Loki in shock. "What? He has no right to decide about our lives." She was holding onto him with both hands, not believing that he was willing to do such unfair trade. "You promised me! You promised that we'll be together, no matter what."

Thor found himself taken aback and only thinking that maybe he should have yielded a bit too. After all they were still brothers and Loki was making him feeling that he was the bad guy here. And all this time he had been regretting that he didn't help Loki the moment his brother asked his help in the first place. "Just hang on a minute!" Thor told interrupting Emma's pleading.

The god of thunder heaved a sigh taking a step closer to them, giving a short nervous glance at the claw-man who was almost there with them. "Loki, I will not accept that deal. But I may have a better proposal for you. You hear me now," he continued in a conciliatory tone, lifting his hammer towards the tornado and giving it some boost to keep it whirling hard, the fierce lightings bolts blacking out the buildings inside of it.

Emma and Loki exchanged looks. And cautiously with curiosity Loki watched his brother's demonstration of power and turned his gaze back at him. "Go on. I am listening."

"You know that without Asgard's connection to the Bifrost, the Nine Realms will remain defenceless. And eventually slip in chaos if we are not protecting them. We need the Tesseract's powers to rebuild the Rainbow Bridge. Father cannot keep using dark magic any longer, it will consume him. Believe it or not, but you are the only one who could help me to find the Cube. Please, I need your help, Loki. Grant me this request and I swear to you that I will leave you in peace, if that is what you truly want. Once we find it I shall take the Tesseract back home and tell father that you helped me," Thor said with strong hopes of rebuilding his union with his brother. "Or we can do it together, my brother. What say you?"

Loki fell speechless for a little while but was doubtful. "When I asked your help you betrayed me, remember? What makes you believe you could trust me now?"

"Mother would," Thor said simply and gave a small, apologizing smile, pain in his eyes. "And because that is what I should have done when you asked my help in the first place. I am sorry I failed you. It won't happen again. Our talks here have made me understand that… that I want my brother back. You must know that there is a bond, more than just blood that binds us. There has always been. I admit I find it hard to trust you. And I know that at the end of the day our paths may diverge for good, but you will always be my family."

A pained grin visited Loki's lips, unveiling his sudden rush of emotions and hiding his uncertain trace of guilt. "So, I guess it didn't work out with Fury then?" he asked sardonically.

Thor shook his head letting out a sorrowfully amused sigh. "No… But you already knew that. And I hate you being right."

With a hopeful, growing smile Emma's gaze bounced between the two deities like following a tennis match that could have saved the world. She squeezed Loki's hand, hoping he would make the right call and rebuild a union with his brother once more.

"Hey, ladies! Are you done with talking shit?" Logan growled looking pretty much pissed off, just wanting to take his daughter somewhere safe from there. "Don't know about you but I don't wanna be here when every goddamn agent of this city comes after us," he continued stepping next to Emma and Loki, getting ready to take down the big blond who seemed to stand on their way. "Loki, you need a hand with this big fucking clown? We can take him down together. He doesn't look that tough. I've seen bigger ones."

Slightly upset and standing by, Thor shifted his weight to another foot and squeezed the handle of this hammer. "I wish not to fight you, Claw-man."

"Me neither. So, better step out of the way buddy or I'll shove that damn hammer so deep up in your ass…"

"Logan, no!" Emma hissed whispering between her teeth. Now she knew exactly where she had gotten her attitude what came to tough situations.

Loki felt… well, very confused watching at Logan and Emma right next to him and at his brother, everyone waiting for his decision. They had already wasted too much time and they were still standing literally on the SHIELD's backyard. He was overwhelmed by the fact that Thor was begging his help for finding the Tesseract and offering him a chance to stay in Midgard with Emma. That was something new. And it touched him that Logan would have fought by his side, and the man had actually called him by his real name this time instead of using some of those unflattering nicknames.

For the first time ever it was Loki's call, and he didn't have to think twice when looking into Emma's blue eyes. He gave her a nod as though telling than everything was alright before letting go of her hands.

He shook his head ruefully with a puzzled smile. He had made his mind. "No, thank you, Logan. There is no need to fight because this _fucking clown_ happens to be my brother," Loki said carelessly, turning his gaze back at Thor, taking a step closer to him, his dimples growing on his cheeks with a small encouraging smile. "Thor, you must be truly desperate to ask my help… but unfortunately so am I. Very well then. Let's go after the Tesseract, together," he said and thought that if things wouldn't work out with Thor he could always find better use for that infinity stone.

Logan knitted his brows, pulling his claws in. "What? Fine by me. You knew they're brothers?" he asked from Emma. "They look nothing alike!"

"Um, he's adopted," Emma smiled, watching at her god of mischief with warm feelings, having a hunch that she was witnessing a return of some kind of cosmic brotherly love between those two deities.

Thor heaved a relieved sigh moving closer to Loki and giving him a brotherly pat on the shoulder, holding his hand there for a moment. "Thank you," he said with the most honest tone. "Now, go! All of you. I cannot hold the SHIELD there forever."

"Oh, you don't have to tell that twice. And thanks, really," Emma said to Thor. "So, guys, let's get out of here!" she continued to the others, already moving towards the Wolverine-made opening in the spiky barrier with her father, waiting for Loki to follow.

Logan groaned not really understanding what the hell was going on. "So, he's on our side now?"

Loki grinned, tears in his eyes, glancing around him, unsure should he have been laughing or crying. One could have called their situation a pretty shitty and he was curious how Thor had planned to get them out of it.

"Now you want me to run?" he asked, spreading his arms as though emphasising the insanity of their current state, taking a few steps backwards.

"And fast!" Thor smirked back at him and flipped his hammer in the air. "For some odd reason your woman likes to think that I have a bad habit of breaking things."

Loki let out an amused snort. "I cannot imagine why," he answered dryly.

"Well, I would hate to disappoint her. And we need a head start," the god of thunder said, giving a short valuating look at the bridge under them.

Walking backwards Loki gazed at his brother a bit worried as it occurred to him what Thor was about to do. He would destroy the bridge to slow down the agents following them by land. "What a brilliant idea, Thor! _We_ are still _on the bridge!_ Have you already forgotten what happened the last time you did this?" Loki asked in a worried tone, checking his surroundings and seeing Emma waiting him next to Logan's vehicle.

"Well, you better start running!" Thor yelped with a grin and lifted his hammer up for a mighty hit. But then he felt a hand squeezing on his shoulder as Loki stopped him.

"I hate to spoil you fun, brother, but your friend is coming!" Loki informed. He had been about to run to Emma when his perceptive eyes had gotten a glimpse of something that was coming fast towards them and the SHIELD buildings.

"Perfect!" Thor grunted, clenching Mjölnir in his grip. "Loki, go! Take Emma and her father away from here! I will catch you. Go!"

"Loki, hurry up! Come on!" Emma shouted at him while jumping into Logan's campervan.

Loki had always considered running to be foolish but this time he didn't care a damn about grace. He was already running like the wind when Thor (with one forceful move) tossed his mighty hammer towards the rocket-like thing. Loki followed the hammer's way with his gaze and saw how the weapon hit its target; the Ironman's flying armour that speeded towards the great building shrouded by the storm. The metal man's suit took severe damage and it crashed into the river, while Mjölnir returned back into Thor's grip.

Loki turned his confused eyes back at his brother gawping while reaching the campervan's door.

Thor shrugged like a smug idiot. "It was only a suit. I hope!" he shouted and lifted his hammer again. "Hurry now!"

Loki hopped into the vehicle when it was already in motion and Logan hit the gas just as the alien-boy had made it inside. Unmercifully and gritting his teeth Logan put his old camper in full throttle and it sped over the empty bridge and carried on following the riverside.

Emma was staring through the side window, sitting on Loki's lap, looking shocked. "Oh my god! Did Thor just kill Ironman?" she shrieked, gazing at the river where Ironman's suit had plunged into. "What's wrong with him?"

An aloud sudden noise carried over the sounds of the traffic, like a big boom, a clash of thunder, and the ground shook below them as though if would have been a small earthquake.

"What the hell was that?" Logan grunted glancing behind from the side-view mirror and taking note that a part of the bridge was gone, crumbled down into the river. "Shit!" he heaved an annoyed sigh and concentrated driving, gritting his teeth. "Yeah, as if no one would come after us now! That fucking retarded bastard!" he murmured. "Hey, both of you go sitting on the back and buckle up!"

Emma and Loki exchanged looks, Emma in disbelief and Loki with a small, sorry grin.

Emma could only guess what had happened, putting two and two together. "Did Thor just smash that bridge?" she stammered.

"Well, I told you once that he is mad, didn't I?" Loki smirked, jesting, stroking her arm while holding her. "When he is like that it is better to go along with him."

"Um… Okay," Emma swallowed with an uneasy smile. "And I used to think that you're the crazy one. So, is he coming along?"

Her questions was answered as they felt the van rocking as something heavy landed on the top of it, crushing the roof slightly inwards.

"Yep! I guess so."

"Goddamned!" Logan kept the van steady and glanced up over his shoulder. For one, he didn't like anyone damaging his old loyal camper. For second, he thought it was an unwanted passenger. "Emma, grab the wheel!"

"It is alright, Logan. If it's all same to you, my brother is coming with us," Loki said with his charming smile and he heard Logan murmuring some nasty words after something that had sounded like _'yeah, fucking great'_. Emma and Loki exchanged looks again, this time smiling to each other. "Looks like we are having a small family gathering. This should be fun."


	26. 26 Ode to Ms Morgan

Still a bit shaken agent Coulson ran his hand over his short hair and touched his tie, watching at his own reflections from the elevator's reflecting wall. He couldn't be happier to have his own form again since Loki's spell had worn off the moment he had walked out from his prison. He was cautiously surprised that director Fury and agent Romanoff had believed him and set him free. Apparently they had already been aware that Loki had escaped with Emma Morgan before they had come down in the prison section picking him up.

"How could you tell it was me?" Coulson asked from Fury and agent Romanoff who stood next to him in the elevator.

"Call it a hunch," Fury said in a dry tone. But he was glad that agent Coulson was alright. Loki could have done more harm to him than just locked him up and change his appearance.

An uneasy grin visited Natasha's face as she glanced at Coulson. "Yeah, and we got some proof on that. With all due respect, sir, if you would grab my ass I would elbow you in the face instead," she said, handing him a SHIELD tablet before Coulson had a chance to ask what on earth did she mean by that.

Phil Coulson stared down at the small screen that was showing a video clip from that same elevator where their fake doubles performed a school example of sexsual harassment at work; someone looking like Coulson grabbing from Romanoff's ass and she elbowing him into stomach.

Coulson knew the moment he saw the video that those two were Loki and Emma in their disguises, and the STRIKE guy next to them in full gears had to be Logan. "This is not me," he clarified hastily. "It's Loki and Emma…"

"I know," Fury grunted. "But what I don't know is that how the hell did they manage to escape? We are in one of the most secured places in this country and yet they slipped through our fingers. They had help. This guy here," he continued pointing at the mystery man in the video. "Who is he?"

Coulson looked suffering, letting out a quiet hesitating 'er', knowing his decisions had gone beyond the margin of error. "He is Wolverine, sir."

Nick Fury blinked his one good eye staring at agent Coulson. "Come again!"

"Logan, sir. One of the X-men…"

"Yeah, I know damn well who Wolverine is," Fury gasped. "But what in the name of Almighty was he doing here? Why was I not informed?"

Coulson grimaced mildly as his gaze wandered on the bullet holes on the walls. _Someone should have fixed those already!_

"Sir… Emma Morgan is Logan's daughter. They had never had any contact to each other before. I admit I made a mistake by bringing him here but I honestly believed that her meeting with her father would have helped her to…"

"Wait! What? _You_ brought Logan here? Oh, for years I have been hoping that he wouldn't cause us any reason to go after him. I would hate to go dealing with him!"

"Should I know about him?" Natasha asked, puzzled.

"You don't want to even meet this guy. He's a nasty one. He simply won't die. Hang on! Did you just say that Emma Morgan is his kid?"

"Yes, sir."

"That would explain a few things for sure."

They walked out from the elevator into the great hall and walked side by side along the hall.

"Sir, I'll take full responsibility of this mess. I know you have always trusted my judgement, and I'm afraid in this case I might have gone more or less against my better judgement. You'll have my resignation on your desk at the end of this day."

Fury stopped walking and faced Coulson greatly confused. "Whoa-whoa-whoa! I don't want you to quit, Coulson!" Fury protested loudly. "I won't accept you resignation. That's not an option. I want you to help me fixing this problem. You are one of my best men. You're the one who keeps it cool when there's a shit storm raging."

"I don't know about that anymore, sir. I messed up."

Fury stared at Coulson giving the man a pat on the arm. "_I need you!_" he said emphasising the matter with full eye contact. "You are my one good eye."

"Speaking about a storm, we're fully operational again, sir," Natasha informed.

Coulson was filled in with the latest events with Thor helping Loki while they went to the parking house checking another mess that was left behind by the runaways. The rest of the STRIKE team was down and the question was why they had been trying to stop Loki without their combat gears and especially without Fury's orders. _Why the surveillance cameras were turned off again when things had gotten messy?_ There where too many questions left without answers. Phil Coulson also learned that his precious, leased company car lied now on the bottom of the river since Thor had smashed the bridge in half under it. Coulson found it shocking that Thor, of all people, had turned against them.

They were on the move again as they reached back to the great hall from the parking house.

"So, we're back in the square one. Loki and Morgan are on the loose. Assumingly Thor is helping them now and so it this _Wolverine _character. We are following every traffic and surveillance camera in case they would pop up from somewhere. There has been no trace of them after they drove to North from here. Our tactical teams are out there trying to find them but it is like if finding a needle in a haystack. I guess Loki pulled another trick from his sleeve to hide them from us," Natasha went over about what they knew and sighed. "Local forces are informed and told to stay back and let us know if they see anything."

"Coulson, you said that Thor wouldn't be a problem," Fury recalled.

"I did, sir. He gave an oath to protect Earth."

"From himself too, huh? You mentioned that Thor became acquainted with a woman in New Mexico?"

"Er… yes. An astronomer called Jane Foster. Apparently they became close. Thor asked us to see that she is safe when we were searching for Loki. I believe that she was set on a tour, lecturing about her research of… wormholes?"

"I want agents trailing her. We'll bring her in. If Thor wants to play this game then we'll raise the stakes high enough."

Coulson heaved a worried sigh. "Yes, sir."

"If Thor and Loki are actually working together now, I've got this nasty feeling that I know what they are after," Fury grunted.

Coulson gulped. "The Tesseract, sir?"

"Yeah, my thoughts exactly."

Natasha Romanoff looked slightly worried. "Are they able to find it, sir?"

"I hope not."

"What happens if they do?"

Fury stopped walking and looked more annoyed than worried about this mess. "That thing contains unlimited energy, enough to blow up a few planets for starters. I don't want to even think it as on option that Loki would find it. We won't let him!"

Natasha swallowed. "Well, it's a relief that you're not worried, sir."

"We have no afford to be worried. We'll find them and we'll stop them with extreme measures if that's what it takes."

Agent Coulson seemed to be million miles away, slipped deep into his thoughts. At first thinking that Loki had tried to pull the information of the Tesseract's location out of him and then recalling that Emma Morgan had actually saved his life. He had seen the bodies of the killed STRIKE agents down in the parking house right next to the empty parking space of his car. And he felt partly guilty of those deaths. He had already kind of trusted Emma Morgan. And what was funny about that; a part of him still did, hoping she would do the right thing eventually.

"She questioned my life's choices," Coulson pondered in a silent voice, staring down at the floor. "She said I should quit my job, get married and raise kids…"

Fury and Romanoff both turned their puzzled gaze at him, the question _'what the hell?'_ hanging in the air without a voice.

"Alright, now I'm worried!" Fury murmured. "You're alright there, Phil?" Fury asked cautiously his voice pitching with growing concern.

"Ever since I joined SHIELD I've never questioned why we're doing this. I've always believed that we are protecting lives, doing the right thing, doing something that matters. I'm dedicated to this job. It determinates who I am. Please tell me we still are the good guys, sir," Coulson said as if struggling with the monumental questions of life.

"Of course we are. We're the kings of the good guys. Look, I understand this has been a tough case. You need to talk with someone? Maybe a few days off would do you some good?" Fury asked and Coulson only shook his head.

"I'm fine, sir."

"Did Loki mess with your head too?" Natasha asked genuine worry in her voice.

A small smile lifted the corner of Coulson's mouth. "It takes more than a god lacking conviction to mess my mind," he assured but then his face turned darker. "But Loki tried to make me tell the whereabouts of the Tesseract. When I refused he was going to kill me. Against all odds Emma Morgan stopped him. She talked him out of it. She was very determined. And she made him to drop his intentions, whatever they were, with the Tesseract. Needless to say but she saved my life. Actually twice today."

Fury had a hard time believing that. "Are you talking about the same Emma Morgan with ice claws, who killed our men? She helped _you_?"

"She's not our enemy. She is just lost. She has developed some trust issues but…"

"Yeah, she's got a lot of issues," Romanoff added, giving a questioning sideways glance at Coulson.

"It was so hard to build her trust but we reached a turning point," Coulson said defensively. "She already _kind of_ joined us and accepted our training before Logan returned to bust her out. Yes, it is Loki who we should be worried about but can't you see, sir, that she is the reason why Loki has been holding back whatever his plans were for Earth. They two have a connection. So, frankly, sir, maybe I'm not objective when it comes to her but I don't want to lock her up like you do. I want to train her to become one of us. She has so much potential. Sir, I'm talking about the Avengers initiative here…"

"Yeah? I think she's already chosen her side. You know she would be a risk investment; a loose cannon. Why do I get this feeling that maybe it was not Loki who messed your head? Maybe it was her. I strongly recommend you to take those few days off, agent Coulson."

Natasha Romanoff noticed Tony Stark coming along, dragging his suit behind him. It was dripping wet, leaving a small stream of water on the floor. "Oh-oh! An angry, playboy-millionaire alert!" she grimaced.

Tony Stark dropped his damaged suit in the middle of the floor as he saw the talking agents and power walked to them with a foul expression. "Oh, you're the ones I wanted to see. This just got personal! Thor destroyed my Mark 6 prototype! What are you going to do about it?"

"We have bigger problems than your suit, Stark," Fury grunted. "If you didn't notice they destroyed a bit more than just your suit!"

"Without my suits there is no Ironman!" Tony reminded and was about to protest of the lame compassion he had received when his phone gave a peep and he picked it up from his pocket.

At the same time Romanoff's phone signalled a text message.

"Did you just text me, agent Coulson?" Tony asked with an amused frown since Coulson never sent text messages. Not to him anyway. He read the short message aloud: _"Loki escaped and locked me in his cell. Get your tin-ass down here and get me out of here! – Phil C."_ Tony grimaced slightly. "Ah…? That doesn't sound like you, _Phil C_."

Natasha tapped her finger against her phone, biting the inside of her cheek, reading her own message. "Mine's nearly the same, except it has an additional PS; _When this is over you wanna go for a cup of coffee with me, doll?_" she read it aloud and lifted her questioning gaze at Coulson and he winced. "Um… sorry, sir. I never date my bosses."

Being a victim of a minor identity theft Coulson was too professional to be awkward. He was only surprised since he hadn't sent those messages but he had a pretty good hunch who had. "Ms. Morgan took my phone! She sent those messages," Coulson realized, being touched by her concern for his welfare and annoyed of her meddling with his personal life.

"She wanted to make sure you'll go free? Well, I'll be damned! I'm almost starting to like her. It seems you made an impression on her after all, agent Coulson. Doesn't this make you think that she wants to get caught?" Fury asked and picked up his phone, contacting the tech-department. "I want Coulson's phone tracked! Right now!"

"I'm already on it!" Tony said, asking Jarvis for tracing it, being one step ahead already.

Then Fury's phone signalled a message, and with an amusedly curious expression Fury opened it as the sender was _'Coulson' again_. After checking his message, he lifted his worry-filled gaze from his phone's screen at Coulson. "You should see this."

"Sir, what is it now?" Coulson asked, getting concerned.

Fury showed him the message containing a photo of an official SHIELD document and a text saying;

_ '__Hydra tried to kill agent Coulson for this! Secretary Pierce is somehow involved!'_

Phil Coulson went quiet, reading the message again. "An authorization agreement for Emma Morgan's relocation? I've never wrote this. Her relocation was supposed to be fully classified, without the paper work. Who ordered this? Did Pierce know about it?"

"Not from me," Fury assured him. "What the hell is going on?"

"Got it!" Tony smirked with a glee of a vengeful brat, turning back at the others. "Agent Coulson's phone has been tracked. What are we waiting for?"

Maria Hill rushed through the crowd to Fury and the others carrying a special secured laptop. "Sir!" she shouted from a distance and was slightly panting as the got to them.

"Tell me you've got some good news," Fury asked cautiously.

Right after the incident in the Helicarrier he had asked one nerd from the tech-team to fix the problem (on the quiet) with the security cameras if the cams were turned off for an unspecific reason.

"Sir, here are all the footage from the parking house. And I mean all of it. It is in an encrypted form and will open only with your identifications."

"Good. Now I can show you what kind of cold-blooded nutcase your girl Morgan really is," Fury promised to Coulson.

**… … **

Only half an hour later Fury's SHIELD team had pulled over an old, red Dodge pick-up truck near the town of Baltimore heading east. The young male driver was blissfully ignorant for the reason why he had been pulled over and treated like a worst criminal.

The tracked signal of Coulson's mobile phone had led them on to that specific vehicle and the heavily armed agents had secured the perimeter, creating road blocks and security checkpoints on the roads. But there was no sign of the runaways. That much Coulson had predicted. He knew that Ms. Morgan would have gotten rid of his phone and they had to expand the searching range at least 80 miles.

Agent Coulson stood next to Fury on the side of a freeway under darkening sky as a younger male agent finally brought him an envelope that had his name handwritten on it:

_To Agent Phil Coulson, SHIELD, Washington D.C._

So much trouble for his mobile phone that was sealed inside of that simple white envelope and hide on the back of the pick-up truck under the bed cover.

Coulson turned the envelope in his hands. It was the same he had given to Emma Morgan earlier on that day with her new IDs on it. It had the small SHIELD logo on the other side and a handwritten word _'Sorry' _with a drawn_ smiley face _as if for a small consolation for their troubles.

Fury shook his head but broke into a tired chuckle, staring down at the envelope as Coulson opened it and picked up his phone from it.

"Do you find this funny, sir?" Coulson asked, bemused.

There was also a folded paper inside the envelope. The same document she had sent with the message to Fury's mobile phone.

"Yes, because once we'll find Emma Morgan, I'll personally make sure that she will learn the concept of being sorry for letting Loki out and forcing us to chase them across the country," Fury promised and went talking to the driver of the pick-up truck for some more information.

When checking his phone, Coulson took note that he had one missed call. He had also received a new voicemail and he sat on the backseat of one of the agents SUV's to hear the message better.

_"__Hi. It's me."_

Coulson's ears sharpened as he recognized the voice immediately. It belonged to Emma Morgan and he could hear sorry and hesitation in her voice. Greatly surprised to hear from her, he pulled the door close to block out the commotion of the road.

_"__I hope you'll get to hear this and you're alright. I'm not really sure why am I doing this but I guess I'm trying to make up the mess we left behind. Look, I know you don't believe me but we wanted to get out without anyone getting hurt. Those guys in the parking house; they weren't there to stop us. They didn't even know that it was us. They were there to get you. They were Hydra. That document that they wanted you to sign should explain things a bit. They were going to kill you for protecting me. Luckily it was Loki and me instead of you in there…"_ Her voice quivered as she heaved a sigh and it sounded that it wasn't easy for her to continue.

_"__Agent Coulson, I'm sorry I got you in trouble. I didn't realize how fucked up the situation was with Hydra in there. And I'm so sorry for letting you down. You're a good guy. Maybe you're a bit of a stoic but you have a heart unlike those other assholes there. You saw something in me. Something that I wish I could have lived up to. So, I wanted to give you a heads-up. I really hope it's not too late. I fear that Hydra is after you now. Those STRIKE guys mentioned someone called Pierce, secretary or something. Don't know if he's a friend of yours but I wouldn't turn my back on him if I were you. Seriously, I think you should get out from that place and away from those people. You're in danger. Fake your own death and move to Caribbean or Tahiti, or anywhere far away from them. You're the James Bond, you figure out something. I don't want you getting hurt because of me. Too many already has… and I have to somehow learn to live with that. Shit! I totally messed things up this time."_

Coulson heard Logan's voice on the background shouting '_Come on_,_ kid!'_

_"__Yeah, I'll be right there,"_ she spoke off the phone and then continued the voicemail, her voice sounding a bit brighter. _"So, I have someone to call a father now. I owe you thanks for that. Oh, and… um, sorry about your car. It was Thor by the way who broke the bridge. Blame him. Loki and I had nothing to do with that. Don't worry about us. We'll be good. I'll make sure Loki behaves from now on. He's not into that world domination anymore. He's cool." _She took a breath and her voice sounded sad as she continued._ "So, this is the last goodbye. Please, don't get this wrong, but I really hope we don't see each other again. Buy, Coulson. This is me dropping the mic._"

The voicemail ended and the dumbfounding silence filled the car. Coulson realized that the message he just heard was actually received two hours ago. _So, they had to be already far beyond of their searching range_, he realized.

Coulson put his phone down and stared a moment out through the side window at the agents swarming on the road, taking in what she had said in her message. He checked the folded paper in the envelope again, the authorisation paper that could have cost his life.

Earlier during their Quinjet ride at the site, he had seen the footage of the parking house cameras that were believed to been turned off. And the truth of the happenings in the parking house left his speechless. It had very much looked like the STRIKE team had been there to kill him and agent Romanoff. And it highly seemed that Emma Morgan (and Loki) had saved his life for the third time on that same day.

Fury pulled a door open and sat next to Coulson on the backseat, they both staring straight ahead, upset and tired like to two old men.

"They are at least two hours ahead of us, sir," agent Coulson informed glumly. _That was nothing new anymore!_

Fury heaved an annoyed sigh. "Yeah, that's what I figured. I talked with the driver of the pick-up truck. He told that he saw a girl matching Morgan's descriptions on a gas station in Great Falls. That's only a stone thrown away from Washington. She had ditched your phone long before we received any of those texts. Must have been some kind of delayed message system?"

"Yeah. It was nice of her to left me a voicemail, though," Coulson said and handed his phone to Fury and let him to listen it. "She doesn't sound like a cold-blooded nutcase to you, does she?"

Fury took the phone and listened, taking his time. Then he turned his eye at Coulson. "Now you're just bragging off, Coulson!"

"Sir?"

"Well, this _asshole_ admits that he was wrong and you were right about her. You saw something in her all right, something I missed because I was so damn concentrated with Loki and his schemes. Hydra has been on our midst all along. And Emma Morgan lured them out because they really wanted her back and I don't even dare to imagine why. It sounds like your time spent with her didn't go all waste. You got through to her. She trusts you and apparently in some level cares. She wouldn't have sent those messages otherwise. We need to bring her back."

"I agree, sir."

"Oh, hell! If you'll convince her to return and switch onto our side, we'll make her an 'Avenger'."

Agent Coulson smiled contently. That's had been his plan all along. "That's a deal, sir!"

"She also had another good point; if Hydra is after you, you're in danger. We can't take a risk on that," Fury explained and pulled out his gun, taking out the magazine and changing it to another from his pocket with blue-headed ammos. Coulson watched him playing with his gun, understanding what was he planning as he handed him a couple of exploding "blood-patches" to hide under his shirt. "How do you feel about making a scene, agent Coulson?"

Coulson grimaced. "I would rather not, sir."

"Well, your life depends on it. So make it happen. That's an order! You're going to Tahiti for a few days," Fury said and got out of the car.

As agent Coulson was about to follow his boss out to fake his own death, his mobile phone rang in his hand and he answered it, sitting back down, absent-minded. "Coulson."

The voice on the other end was quiet and hesitating, a faint woman's voice. "Mr. Coulson?"

The female's voice sounded very familiar to him. "Ms. Morgan?" he asked hopefully, believing it was Emma because she sounded exactly like her and he had to cover his other ear to hear her better.

She was quiet for a moment. "This is Aileen Lange. You called me a couple of days ago and told me about Emily Morrison? "

_It was Emma Morgan's mother!_ Coulson realized. The timing was horrible. He took a moment to consider his words, listening to her voice that had the same kind of rhythm and soft tone than Emma had but was more matured, and he found it pleasant. "Er… yes, Mrs. Lange. How can I help...?"

"Please tell me you are not of those people," she said interrupting him, a sharp edge in her voice, "who took her eight years ago."

"Mrs. Lange I assure to you that we're not. People responsible for that have been arrested years ago."

"When you called, I didn't believe you. I thought it was a cruel joke. I thought you were one of those monsters who took her and I went into a panic. Oh, god… I've been waiting and fearing for that call for eight years. Mr. Coulson, you said that I could see my daughter? That she needs me…"

"Yes, ma'am, but…"

"I want to see her now. I tried to reach you a few hours ago when my plain landed on Washington D.C. I had to arrange things, I have two small children. But I'm here now. I want to see my Emily. Just tell me the address and I'll be there."

Agent Coulson grimaced, feeling a sting in his heart, feeling that this case was getting under his skin too personally. That was a new thing to him. "Mrs. Lange, are you still at the airport? I could come to pick you up and we could talk face to face. I would rather not talk about this matter through phone. You see things got a bit complicated on our end here…"

"What do you mean? Is Emily all right? Has something happened to her?" she asked anxiety and worry returning into her voice.

"She's fine. She is all right," Coulson hurried to reassure her and thought a lie enough close to the truth to tell her. "But the thing is that… she is with her father right now since I couldn't reach you then. I'm sorry but she left from Washington today with him."

Silence answered back at him at first. "With… _Logan_? But how…?" she gasped. For six long seconds she couldn't get a word out of her mouth. "That's… ah… good, I think," she whispered in frustration before her voice broke into tears.

"Are you all right, Mrs. Lange?"

"No… No, I'm not. I came to see my daughter. And it's too late. I'm always too late." She was holding back her cry and thinking, pulling herself together. "How… how can I reach them?"

"I'm sorry, ma'am, we don't have Logan's current address, but we are doing our best to find them. Are you staying in DC? Do you think we could meet and talk later?"

"I… I suppose so."

**… …**

The evening was falling upon them under the darkening sky of West-Virginia as the sun had sunk behind the mountainous horizon. Logan kept driving his camper on small roads and avoiding bigger towns. Thanks to Loki's illusions they had managed out from the big city and slipped away from SHIELD with ease. But Logan knew too well that they weren't safe yet.

He had been thinking to take Emma and the Asgardians (like the E.T. boys had been calling themselves) to the X-mansion. But then he had reasoned that the Xavier's mansion was the first place SHIELD would be looking for them and he didn't want to put the mutant kids and his friend there in risk.

Thor was sitting next to Logan, in the front seat. The god of thunder glanced at his brother who sat on the back in the dim van with Emma holding her under his arm since she had fallen in sleep in Loki's arms after the hard day.

To Thor they seemed to be very much in love, and as if they would have been seamed together they shared slightly mischievous and ambiguous (even bawdy) sense of humour. They had been making fun about the size of his hammer and he hadn't quite follow it but he'd assumed it was some sort of jesting on his expense. And to his small disappointment, his title as the god of thunder aroused no respect or admiration among these two mortals. In fact Logan had dared to imply that Thor's powers were nothing special, that the man had a friend who could do the same; summon thunder and storms. Of course Thor wouldn't believe that. _No mortal could have such powers that only belonged to a god._

Thor had to admit that he was getting a bit envious to his brother for that deep affection Loki and Emma shared and showed to one another. He couldn't help but to think of Jane while watching at them. He missed her and he kept thinking that he should pay her a visit before leaving Midgard. He owed her that, he had promised to return.

"It was very kind of you to give us a lift, Logan," Thor said then, trying to put a sparkle into a dried up conversation with the grumpy Claw-man. The man obviously hadn't forgiven him for smashing the roof of the campervan.

"Yeah," Logan murmured, not so eager having his little van suddenly so crowded. He glanced in the mirror, checking up on Emma who sat on the back in the arms of her alien boyfriend. They were a bit too close to one another for his taste. "So, is there somewhere I can drop you guys off?"

"Well, if it is not too much to ask then to the Mojave Desert, please," Thor answered, recalling Heimdall telling him that that's where the Tesseract was held by the SHIELD people.

Logan blew air out of his nose, amused. "Area 51? That was an alien joke, right?"

"No. I was being serious."

Logan knitted his brows giving the big blond a glance. "That's on the other side to the country. And this is a hell of a big country, bub!"

"There is this ancient Asgardian artefact that we need for getting back home, a transportation of some sort…" Thor explained, getting excited about the matter.

"So, you mean if you'll find that thing, you'll go home?"

"Yes, that was the plan."

"And you'll take this wiseass Prettyboy with you?" Logan asked, pointing his thumb behind him at Loki.

Thor turned at his brother again and met Loki's curious expression as though he had just paid attention to their conversation. "Well yes, if he wishes to come. That is up to him."

"He will!" Logan grinned wryly. "Sure. Why the hell not! I'll give you a lift there," he said, picking up his half smoked cigar from the ashtray, thinking that maybe this could prove out to be a good thing.

"You are not being overly kind just to get rid of me, are you, _Logan_?" Loki retorted quietly with a dry smile.

Logan snorted, chewing his cigar. "Yeah, that's the only reason I'm doing it, _Loki_!"

They were driving through a small town and Logan's camper needed refuelling so he pulled into a gas station. "Anyone hungry? Do you E.T. boys eat? Anything?" Logan asked and turned off the engine.

"Well, yes, but…" Thor begun but Logan wasn't really waiting for an answer.

"Great. I'll fill up and grab us something to eat. Hey, kid! Wake up! Keep an eye on these two, will you? I won't be long," Logan yelped at Emma, making sure she was awake before leaving her with those aliens.

Emma opened her eyes and smiled lazily as she met Loki's tender gaze, her head leaning against his shoulder. Logan's voice and him slamming the door close had awakened her but it was Loki who she saw. "Hi," she whispered to him and took his hand, having no hurry to move at all.

"Hi," Loki answered back softly, cradling her, his arm around her, his other hand's fingers interlocking with hers. "Slept well?"

"Hmm, yeah. This is the way I want to wake up every time," Emma sighed falling into his eyes, unsure the time of the day. All that mattered was that he was there with her now.

"Sitting uncomfortably inside of your father's old stinking van?" Loki suggested with a grin, stroking her back.

Emma grinned back at him making a quick check of her surroundings. She heard Logan filling up the tank. "As long as you're with me I don't mind if I'd wake up in a sewer."

"Oh, how lovely thought. A pity I cannot ever meet your high expectations."

They both laughed, and Thor cleared his throat to express his presence as it seemed they were going for a kiss. "Perhaps we should discuss about the quest of the Tesseract?" Thor suggested.

Emma puckered up her brows unpleased. She had so forgotten about the other godling who was hanging around with them now. "Or, we should wait until the dust has settled," she said turning towards Thor. "We stirred up a nasty hornet's nest. You said that SHIELD has that thing you want. We'll be having very angry agents up against us there."

"Emma, your Father already agreed to transport us across the country to it. I think we should waist no time."

"And I assume that you want to go there with '_a big boom'_, making your way through at least hundred of their best warriors?" Loki smirked dryly, knowing his brother style of handling tough situations.

"Actually no," Thor said quietly and moved towards the two, hunching down inside the van. His every step rocked the small camper. "I was thinking that maybe you could use your tricks so we could walk in without a battle?" he said in a conciliatory tone.

Loki gave him a surprised frown. That was the first time ever when Thor gave some recognition to his magical gifts and not making jests about it. "Where is the fun in that?"

"It may not be fun, but someone once said that _a wise king never seeks out war…_" Thor recalled his Father telling them once in their childhood.

"_But he must always be ready for it_," Loki continued, and the brothers stared each other in the eye significantly, those words bringing back some forgotten memories. "I thought we were going to do it like in Nornheim?"

A width grin spread on Thor's face. "We are. And as I recall you veiled us into a smoke, in Nornheim. Remember, my brother?"

Loki grinned back at him. _That was the way he had recalled it, not Thor._ "I only remember you being ridiculously nervous," he reminded like an annoying little brother, and they both chuckled.

"No, I was not nervous," Thor defended himself to Emma, feeling a need to explain when she watched at them two amused. "But I have to admit that there was this time once when Loki turned me into a frog… then I was a bit nervous."

_So, that thing really had happened!_ Emma winced and gave him an uneasy smile. "Yeah, I know the feeling. He turned me into a sheep in England."

"Oh?" Thor turned at Loki again. "I knew it!"

Loki only smirked to them, taking pride in those good tricks.

And Emma watched at the both thinking that she should have given them some time to talk in private. "Would you excuse me for a moment? I need to… go," she said quietly and unbuckled her seatbelts.

"Where are you going?" Loki asked as she slipped on her feet between him and a small table. He got on his feet too, taking a hold of her hand. He didn't wish to stay there alone with Thor, ending up into a difficult talk with his brother. "You were not planning to send any more of those secret messages to that agent, were you?"

"I told you I just wanted to make sure he'll get free. That's all," Emma reassured and squeezed his hand with a smile as she moved to the door. "You two, try not to break anything, please. I have to answer the call of nature. I'll be right back."

She went out. And Loki smiled, bemuse, following her with his gaze through a tiny window as she went talking with Logan and then into the gas station.

"We are speaking the same language but some times I cannot understand the half of what she is saying to me," Loki pondered aloud.

Thor sat on a small sofa-kind of seat and watched at his brother with compassionate eyes. "But you do understand each other in some way?"

Loki turned back at Thor with a curious smile. "She understands me far better than anyone else."

"Maybe even worryingly too well. You two are playing the same game; resorting to lying and cheating when you see it fit," Thor said and got Loki's disapproving frown. "But even so, she has done the world of good to you. I have seen you with her, and it seems to me that you are a different man when you are with her. I see now that Father was right when he sent you here in Midgard."

A great confusion swept over Loki and he took a step closer to his brother. There weren't really many steps to take inside the small van but he wanted to get closer after Thor brought Odin into this conversation. His face darkened and so did his voice. "What do you mean; Odin sent me here?"

"Did you think it was pure luck you ended up here instead of being trapped in an endless void of space?" Thor asked and his question dumbfounded Loki who sat opposite him. "Loki, our Father used all the dark energy he could to guide you safely here. He said you need to find your own path, to find your bearings and become the man you are destined to be. I am sorry I came to spoil it for you when you were getting there on the right path on your own. I should have waited in Asgard as Father asked me."

"Odin sent me here?" Loki repeated, sounding almost angry, thinking about all the suffering he had gone through. The quickly risen darkness in his gaze was fading and was replaced by a sad smile. "He wanted me to find my way? And… to become what? A king? Or perhaps to learn some humanity? Oh, I know; to finally become an Asgardian self-centred, blood-thirsty brute?"

"Loki," Thor sighed stretching his name in a gently disapproving manner. "He wishes that you will learn to accept yourself as you are. And maybe, someday find your way back home again, to us. Father believes in you, Loki. And he loves you like he has always done. We all do. He wishes you to return. And so does Mother."

Loki opened his mouth to speak but was quiet for a moment, his gaze dropping down. "Why? Why would they want their unworthy son back?" His voice shivered. He nearly shivered. "Odin admitted he took me for only one purpose; to bring about an alliance with Jotuns. Now those plans buried and Jotunheim in ruin… Yes, I can imagine them welcoming me back home with open arms," he said sarcastically.

Thor leaned his arms against the table, watching into his brother's eyes with determination. "I swear to you, my brother, we can fix everything. Together."

Loki slumped back on his seat. "You are overly optimistic of this reunion."

"Well, Jotunheim still exists. We can make a new peace treaty with the Frost Giants. If they say no, I will let my hammer do the talking," Thor suggested and they exchanged slightly amused glances. "And once we find the Tesseract, I would be honoured if you would take it back home with me. Think, Loki. We could face everything side by side again. We can rebuild the Rainbow Bridge that was destroyed in our battle. Let that become a symbol of our new equal union."

Loki gave it a short thought, a small smile returning on his lips, but he didn't look happy. "It is too late. I have come to realize we never were and will never be equal. Soon you will take the throne and…"

"I don't want the throne!" Thor interrupted and Loki stared at him puzzled as he kept a small pause to think how to explain it. "I am not ready for it yet. Who am I fooling? I am not sure if I'll ever be."

"That is the one thing you have been waiting for your whole life!" Loki yelped with resent, his gaze nailed at Thor with a murderous gleam and his jaw clenched.

"Loki, I know," Thor said in conciliating tone. "I want more than ever to defend and protect Asgard and the Nine Realms but I understand it now that I cannot do that while sitting on the throne."

The emerald eyes narrowed curiously. "Is it because of the woman you love? You fear Odin forbids you to rule having her by your side?" Loki asked.

"This has nothing to do with Jane. I am not ready for the sacrifices… I cannot send our warriors into battle and stay behind. To rule Asgard… to have all that power… I fear it would change me too much. I would rather be a good man than a great king."

"Well…" Loki's shoulders relaxed and a funny twinkle filled his green eyes as he sank back into his seat. "If you feel unfitting for the job, I can take it off your hands. I do not want to brag but I gained some experience on that."

Thor frowned. "Yes, you surely did," he said blankly.

But then, little by little they both smiled and burst out laughing like in the good old days.

When Emma returned to the van she stayed a while outside, listening to the brothers' laughter and jovial chattering. She had been slightly worried while leaving them alone in the small campervan they could have easily broken in pieces in a minor fight. But it sounded that they were really getting along. And it made her very happy.

**… …**

_Thanks for reading! So, there was a lot about SHIELD in this chapter. The next one will be concentrating more on Emma and Loki. And I'll try to get it updated soon, it's almost done. _

_Emma's mom was introduced in here quickly and I'd like to know if you are interested to learn her side of the story._

_Also, I know that there are people who love Jane Foster and those who hate her. Which side are you on?_

_Thank you so much for the reviews and following. I will be answering to the reviews by PM from now on._

_SenSen-Chan, I'm always so happy to receive your comments. Thank you! And you must be a bit of a psychic yourself since you're clearly predicting my next moves. ;)_

_Novachec, thank you again for you positively praising review. I'm so very happy if you like the story. Please, do let me know how am I doing in the future too. _

_Everybody stay safe!_


	27. 27 Happy Campers

"Whoa! What? Wait a minute! Could you please say that again?" Emma asked, very much confused, fighting back an urge to shout out her words.

Distant calls of a lonely owl echoed through the evergreen-forest around her as if the hooting of that nocturnal creature would have been enough to answer her question.

Just like good little scouts, the mutant-god team was having an outdoor supper in the dark woods, being miles away from other living human beings as Logan had found an empty, outlying campsite where to park his van.

They were all sitting in a half circle on long wooden benchs around a cosy campfire that Logan had put together from not-so-dry woods and a good pour of gasoline. The smoke and the stench of the fuel had taken some pleasure off from the moment but otherwise they had been having fun, chatting, jesting and eating pizza and drinking beer (Emma had preferred soda due to her particular reason).

In other words they had been starting to get along as a team, until the talk turned back returning the Tesseract to Asgard, and the Asgardians dropped the bomb on Emma in passing, like it wouldn't have been a big deal.

"Which part?" Thor asked innocently. And Loki gave him a scowl, shaking his head, resenting his brother's lack of discretion.

Emma stared frowning at the three men who all seemed to be more or less fine with the idea. "That part when you kind of implied that _you two_ are going back to Asgard!" she cried out and then turned to Loki who sat by her side. "What about us? Loki, tell me it's not true."

"That is what we agreed," Thor affirmed carelessly, munching his tasty pizza. "Didn't we, Loki?"

It was all dark around them but in the light of the campfire's flames Emma saw Loki's face well enough to tell that he had become unhappy about the matter.

"Emma, I was going to tell you," Loki said and placed his half eaten pizza slice back on top of the box and spoke with his hands, waving them gently and calmly to emphasize his words. "I would take you to Asgard with me once we find the Tesseract but I fear it could be too dangerous for you. We haven't really used the Cube before, and its powers could be too potent to a mortal. Thor and I agreed that it would be wiser that I will return to Asgard with him, fixing the damage we left behind." He smiled playfully and picked up her hand. "And I must say that there is a lot of fixing to do. But once the Bifrost rebuild, I will return to take you with me. You will be safe there. No SHIELD. No Hydra…"

"What?" Emma shrieked, and got on her feet, just trying to understand what he was telling.

"Loki, you will have to negotiation that with Father first," Thor reminded and tucked in for the fourth slice. "And Emma, you are taking this pretty well. Loki thought that you might be upset."

Emma only frowned at Thor, mouthing _'no shit!_'

Logan frowned too. "Hang on now, fellows. You didn't say anything about taking her with you. She's not leaving Earth!"

Emma gasped, scowling at Logan on her other side. "Y-you knew about this?"

Logan switched his beer bottle to his left hand and lifted his right in the air looking ignorant. "Hey, I just agreed to take E.T.s across the country to their space ship so they can go home. That's all."

"Technically it is not a space ship. Not even close," Thor mumbled, amused, flushing down his mouth full with a gulp of beer. "It is an Infinity Stone that can create portals."

Emma felt dumbfound and shocked, trying to understand the whole situation. At one moment everything had been fine, she had been holding hands with him and laughing to his jokes, and the next Loki was telling her that he was leaving. She couldn't fit that into her head.

"Loki, didn't you say that it was dangerous for you to return? That they would kill you?" she asked in a smaller voice.

Loki got up too but his gaze dropped down with remorse and retuned back at her eyes again as he stepped closer. "Yes, that is what I believed, but Thor assured me that Odin wants me to return…"

"Yeah? And he's probably there polishing the big, golden gallows right now," Emma snapped, stepping over the bench and moving further away from the men, not wanting to even think about Loki leaving her. It hadn't even crossed her mind. She was mad at him for not telling her earlier. And she was terribly afraid that what if Loki was wrong, and there was a death sentence waiting for him back home.

Loki followed her calmly but he was slightly mortified for having this talk in front of his brother and her father. "Please, my dear. Calm down. I am not abandoning you. I shall return to retrieve you," he promised trying to touch her arms but Emma pulled away.

"Please, don't touch me right now!" she warned, seething in anger, walking a circle. "When did you plan this with the Mr. freaking _Hammer-time_?" she asked pointing her finger at Thor accusingly. "When were you going to tell me? And…. and you don't make decisions concerning me without asking me. You didn't even bother to ask if I wanted to come along or not to some other planet across the space! I'm not some fucking souvenir you can pick up with you!"

Logan finished his beer while listening to the lovers quarrel behind him. "That's damn right. She's not going anywhere," he cut in, being protective of her like a proper dad (of a teenager).

"Stay out of this, Logan!" Emma hissed menacingly, feeling of been betrayed by him too.

The god of mischief seemed less mischievous but very confused, finding her indignant words towards him unduly demeaning. "Why are you being like this, Emma? You said you want to see Asgard and you want us to be together, no matter where. I thought you would have been pleased."

"Pleased…?" Emma was about to rant more but then she narrowed her eyes suspiciously, bottling up all the nasty words that were willing to come out. _That was what she had wanted earlier._ "I need to think," she sighed, frustrated, running her hands over her hair.

Then she turned and walked into the darkness passing the campervan, just wanting to be alone for a while.

"Emma, please!" Loki called out for her softly and followed her with his gaze. He was about to go after her but Logan stopped him on his tracks.

"Let her go, buddy!" Logan said as if he would have meant it for completely.

"Evidently you would like that," Loki snapped. "In fact you must be enjoying this."

Logan really couldn't deny that. He picked up another bottle of beer from a six-pack and uncapped it. "Sit your ass down and let her calm down! Don't know about the women of your place but here when the ladies go like that you'll give them some space, all right?"

Loki stared down at the man with a pitiful smirk. "Hm, so that is how it went with you and her mother?"

Slowly Logan rose up on his feet, grabbing a hold from Loki's jacket's decorative lapel which made the trickster god only glowering down at the man offensively. "That's it! I'm not taking anymore bullshit from you, buddy."

"Unhand him, Logan, or you will have to deal with me," Thor protested and stood up too, ready to defend his brother if needed.

"Yeah, yeah, sit down princess! You'll get your share later. I'm having a fatherly discussion with my would-be son-in-law, if you don't mind," Logan grunted. And stupefied Thor just stood there, his dignity being dented so rudely by a mortal.

Logan's eyes turned back at the deity in his grasp. "Now, you listen up, _Loki_! You might have fooled Emma but you ain't fooling me. Maybe you're in this for fun, but she sees you as the next from God. She trusts you with her life even you pulled her with you into this deep shit with that SHIELD and now you're leaving her to deal with the aftermath alone. I couldn't care less if you'd be gone forever, but I don't like you hurting her. If you're leaving for good, then be a man and don't lie to her. Say goodbye! And better do it nicely!" he gruffed through gritted teeth and released his grip.

Loki stared down at the man challenging, but swallowed the first witty remark that entered his mind, glancing at Thor again. _Odin's sons stuck together again it seemed! _A fight with Logan could have looked bad in Emma's eyes, he reasoned and gave up, settling for getting the last words and making those simple enough for the man.

"No matter what you say, Logan. No matter what you do, I shall never leave her," Loki swore, making it sound nearly a threat. _Her father existing or not, she was still his._ Then he turned and went after her, his green cape waving behind him.

"Maybe you should!"

Logan's discouraging words reached his ears as he was walking pass the camper and it inflamed his annoyance. To him it seemed that Logan saw him the same way as the Asgardians did; unworthy, no matter what he did. Logan saw him unworthy for his daughter. In any situations they would have never become the best friends, but around the campfire it had felt like Emma would have been the glue keeping the unfitting pieces together with her high spirits, and when she had left, things had returned to normal.

**… …**

The pale crescent of the moon peeked behind thin misty clouds, shedding some light into the dark wilderness where the tall spruces and pines towered high above him. Loki followed down a dirt-road and found Emma sitting on a big rock further away on riverside, only 90 yards away from the camper. Her still silhouette against the width sparkling river looked so small and down-hearted.

"My Valkyrie, I am sorry. I do not want us to quarrel. You are right. I should have spoken with you earlier," he begun gently as he approached her.

She sat up straight, her back at him, wiping her eyes and sniffing her tears. "Yeah, you should have. Why does it some times feels like you're just playing with me?"

"I am not. Not with you."

Slowly Loki walked closer to her. He knew exactly how much it hurts when significant matters were left untold. "Could you please look at me, Emma?"

He waited for her to turn for a few steps but she didn't move. He didn't like to talk to her back but found no other choice. "Please, do not be crossed with me. You were so happy that we were finally together. I didn't want to spoil it. I didn't want us to waste this night by worrying about it. I would have told you tomorrow. Thor is more of action. He blurted it out like an idiot that he is."

"I thought it was a good idea… having Thor with us and all, you know." She took a breath to gather herself, staring at the river where the water sparkled and flowed like quicksilver. And she would have wanted to take a long dive there, in the cold, dark water. "And it is, right? You can go back home and be with your family. It's great. After everything what happened there, they want you back. At least you have a home where to return." That was more that she could say for herself, she realized. "And your mom, Frigga, seemed great and caring. I just…" She swallowed and turned at him, standing up and watching at him in the darkness, seeing his dark frame moving closer.

With his own Asgardian outfit and the gleaming golden details in the moonlight he looked like a strong, fairytale warrior-king and it reminded her that they truly were from two different worlds. The weak light of the moon illuminated half of his pale face, the shadows making him look terribly sad as he stood there right in front of her.

And she felt sad too, scared even. "I'm not mad at you. I just don't want you to go. I don't want you to leave me, not for a minute," she whispered, her voice breaking and eyes getting wet again. The issues left by her mother's abandonment made her clinging onto him with such a need that she couldn't bear it.

"Come here," Loki said tenderly, offering his hands, and pulled her in his arms when she went to him.

She held him tight and let out a small and sad titter. "I'm sorry. I'm such a fool but I want to keep you here with me. I don't know what I'm going to do without you. I'm scared of loosing you, Loki."

"You are not loosing me, my love. I will return to you," Loki whispered into her ear, stroking her hair on the back of her head, pressing his cheek against her golden locks. "And if it is not Asgard you want to go then we can stay here. We can be anywhere you want."

Still holding him, she looked up into his eyes. "Tell me you're scheming something. That once you'll get that Tesseract-thing you'll snatch it and we'll… I don't know, take over some nice isle in the tropic and live like kings there," she suggested with a weak grin.

Loki caressed her face with both hands, his thumbs drawing little circles on her cheek-bones. A caring smile settled on his eyes that made her melt inside.

"_Before_. Before I might have done that. Before I fell in love with you," he spoke in a soft, soothing tone as though sharing his innermost thoughts with her. "Thor was right when he said that I am a different man when I am with you. I should try my best to make things right from now on, because of you, so that we can be together."

A smile didn't stay on Emma's face as she watched at him confused, not wanting him to change too much. And when he talked like that, he was pouring sweet, hot fudge through her ears straight into her soul with his wooing voice. "I'm… um…" She swallowed the rest of her tears, touching his hands. "Damn! I've had such a bad influence on you."

"Well yes, comparing to you I used to be such a blameless saint everybody loved."

Emma grinned and Loki broke into a chuckle and she joined him, they both laughing and wrapping their loving arms around each other.

Hearing his cordial, soft small chuckles made her happy again. Emma felt his chest heaving up and down with his breathing and laughter, his body pressed against hers. After the chuckling died down, they held each other a long time that way. She felt his arms around her, protective and safe. Her forehead against his jawline, she smelled the divine scent of his skin. And it made her heart purr with overwhelming feelings of closeness and that mad animal magnetism she felt for him.

If their time together was limited for now, she didn't want to spend any of those precious moments by arguing or talking. She ran her hands over his chest, up to his neck, dying to kiss him and desperately wanting to be close to him. She wanted to give that Trickster an irresistible reason to return to her, something that he would remember.

Loki sensed the tension in her body and it sent a wave of warmth through him in the cool evening. Their eyes met again and he lowered his face to hers and kissed her gently, tasting her inviting mouth, feeling her hot breaths on his skin. She pressed herself against him more tightly and moaned softly as their tongues found one another.

Her small hands travelled over his body, caressing him, studying his clothing as if trying to find their way onto his bare skin. She responded to his kiss more needily, more hungrier, her lips never completely leaving his as she took a few sharp breaths, her eyes checking up on his.

When her hand tucked boldly under his long, leather vest exploring his crotch, trying to find buttons to open or a belt to unbuckle, he parted from her mouth with a sorry, deep breath. "Emma, my brother and your father are sitting right there on a hearing range," he whispered, restraining himself and pulling her hand gently away from his territory.

"Then let's go deeper into the woods," she whispered back at him, her moist lips continuing to brushing his. She just wanted to be close to him, anywhere, in private.

He smirked, revealing his dimples, his emerald eyes glimmering in the dark playfully. "Ohh… Logan already hates me. I dare not to think what he will do to me if he catches me defiling his daughter out here," he whispered, but like to play with that arousing thought.

"A bit late to worry about that. Take a skinny-dip with me in the river and I'll show you how to breathe underwater," she said with a tempting, husky voice, hiding her grin because she knew that she sucked when it comes to talking sexy. So, she sucked his bottom lip instead, humming in pleasure while tasting something even sweeter than chocolate. "I'm ravenous for mischief, _my king_," she whispered into his ear, cheek to cheek, in an arousing way, sending Loki's imagination running wild with even more erotic fantasies.

Guiding his right hand, she helping him to slide down the long zipper of her jumpsuit, agonizingly slowly, unveiling a white tank top underneath and then lifting her daring gaze from her revealing clothing up to his eyes. His hand slipped down on her waist on its own, under her suit and returned back up on her breast. He heard a soft moan escaping her mouth and he felt her shivering, her hands returning around his waist. He could tell she wasn't wearing anything under her tank top, her nipples getting harder under his touch and he felt himself swelling.

He sighed deeply, leaning to her. He loved it when she called him '_her king'_. "My little teaser, what am I going to do with you?"

"Anything you want. I am only yours," she whispered, her breathing quivering while his hands kept caressing her and diving deeper inside of her open jumpsuit.

_"__Anything?"_

Loki let out a desirous groan unable to resist that innocently seducing offer. He reminded himself that he was a higher being, not so easily tempted by earthly cravings, but she was luring out his primal senses. He preferred a proper bed, clean sheets and an absolute privacy. _But what the hell! Out in the nature in the moonlight, against a tree trunk or in the water, and veiling them with his illusions had to do for now._

Easily he threw her over his shoulder like a fire-fighter, ready to carry her into the woods with a lust of a wild man, ready to fulfil her desires and his own.

To suppress her own surprised shriek and laugh, Emma covered her mouth while hanging on her belly over his shoulder, and holding on with another hand from his smooth cape.

_Thou shall never tempt your god!_ she advised herself as it strongly looked like Loki was really going to go for it, and her chest was flooding with mixed emotions from anxiety to burning heat. She had promised him _anything_. _What if he would turn them into some wild creatures? What if he wanted something she wasn't ready for?_

"Shit!" Logan's grunt drifted towards them through the darkness and Emma lifted her head towards the camper in the distance. "Emma! Emma! Where the hell are you?" Logan's voice called for her, louder, hastily and coming closer.

"Loki!" Thor shouted too, his voice sounding worried. "Brother, do you hear me?"

Loki groaned, holding tighter from her thighs and glancing at her over his shoulder. "Should we disappear? Or do you want me to kill them both?"

In the distance Logan's frame emerged from behind the camper and the light of the campfire disappeared suddenly as if it would have been put out. "Emma! Run into the woods! They found us! They're here!" Logan shouted as loud as he could.

That caught Loki's and Emma's full attention and they noticed the glowing lights of an approaching jet drawing closer high on the dark sky, still far, miles away, above the tree tops. A cone of light from the aircraft was sweeping the ground below it. The distant hum of the jet's engines was becoming hearable and growing stronger as they stared up, stupefied, Loki lowering her on her feet and taking a hold of her hand.

"We are here!" Loki shouted to the others, taking a serious tone and pulling Emma with him towards the trees.

"Head to the woods!" Logan yelled back to them.

Emma gasped, her grip tightening on Loki's hand while running with him into the even darker woods, her feet feeling weak under her. Worry was filling her already wildly pounding heart. "Is it SHIELD? How the hell did they find us so soon?" she shrieked, doing her best lifting her feet on a rough, bumpy ground, wading through the dense underbrush side by side with Loki.

_This was not the way she had been planning to conquer the woods with him!_

She saw a flash of Logan's figure running between the tall tree trunks in a sweep of the approaching light-cone. And she noticed Thor's broad frame moving there too, his red cape fluttering in a flash of lights behind him. With a growing panic the whole situation brought an image of an old-time jail-break movie into her mind, and she could imagine herself being an escaped convict on the run, which she pretty much was. A rough brush from a spruce branch against her face made her focus with the running.

The jet came closer, the loud vibrating sounds of the engines filling the air and then the aircraft was dropping altitude, hovering slowly straight downwards onto the wide opening where Logan's van was parked.

Logan and Thor ran closer to Loki and Emma and they all slowed down when they saw each other in the dark forest, taking a breath and moving carefully forward, listening.

"The three of you go! I can take that aircraft down and handle them," Thor suggested, squeezing the arm of his hammer, glancing behind him.

Suddenly Logan stopped and turned around. "Hang on! Wait a sec!" he yelped, lifting his hand at Thor, staring up at the descending jet. And others followed his example and stopped moving.

_"__Hey, Logan!" _A strong female voice called out from the jet's loudspeakers and Logan heaved a relieved, unbelieving sigh, hearing a dear, familiar voice. "_Professor thought your gang might need a place to crash for a couple of days. Care for a lift?"_

"Storm!" Logan recognized the voice immediately and a broad smile spread all over his face. He let out a small, amazed chuckle. "It's alright! They're friends of mine!" he shouted to the others over the noise of the jet.

The imminent danger being over, Emma and Loki trudged to Logan through the scrubs, Emma more puzzled than Loki. "Your friends, huh? Your friends own a spy-jet?" she asked, winded, nearly accusingly, pointing her free hand up in the air and holding onto Loki with the other. "How the hell did _they_ find us?"

The bright landing-lights of the jet sieved through the tall spruces, creating moving shadows all around, and revealed Logan's proud grin. "That's what they are good at. Get ready to meet the X-men, kid."

"More of your kind?" Loki guessed, not appreciating to get anymore company. And the worst part was that they were Logan's friends. He hated the timing. An hour later if would have been just fine.

"At least they aren't SHIELD," Thor reminded and walked to his brother and they exchanged flabbergasted looks, pondering what kind of creatures they were meeting next.

Emma bit her lips, unable to keep her notion to herself; "The X-men? A transvestite boy-band, right?"

Logan shook his head, cursing inwardly at his genes that had apparently given her his wry sense of humour too. _His kid was as bad as he was!_ "Hey, these people are my friends. They're mutants like us. Some respect now!"

The way he said it and what he said, it didn't sound like him at all anymore, he realized. _This fatherhood was killing him!_

Then in the increasing light from above, Emma's unzipped suit caught Logan's attention and he knitted his brows disapprovingly, scowling at Loki. "What the hell were you two doing out there?"

That shut her smart-mouth up. "Nothing!" Emma felt her cheeks burning red as she hastily pulled her zipper back up, not daring to glance at Loki. _If the jet had come a few minutes later, she would have probably been running naked!_

"For your information, I needed to pee. Alright?" she informed grimly, feeling like an idiot for needing to defend herself. _That man had been her father for a few hours now, but she wasn't a kid! She had a right to have a sex-life! To admitting it was another thing._

"Yeah, right!" Logan doubted but felt a sudden need to stride back against the draught caused by the descending aircraft. With his animal senses he couldn't miss the scent of her female pheromones running wild for her boyfriend and he found it very, uncomfortably disturbing. It was as if she'd have been in heat, and he needed to keep a distance with her because it was screwing up his mind. _It was wrong and freaking him out. If he had a kid he wanted to see her as a kid not as a woman of his own kind!_

"_Oh shit!_ Everybody, cool down now!" he grunted through his teeth, mainly taking to her, and to himself, pondering and praying that the two godlings were immune to that bestial, instinctively sensual allure of hers.

"We are cool!" Emma shouted after him, confused by his weird behaviour, pondering what the hell was wrong with him. She was cool, or at least cooling down.

Greatly bewildered Thor dropped his stare down at her. The god of thunder preferred brunettes and in normal circumstances he probably wouldn't have given her a second look. She simply wasn't his type. In fact, he found Emma's ice claws a major turn off, thinking that maybe those were the real reason Loki was so drawn to her. _Loki was a Frost Giant after all and got to be into ice, right?_

But after seeing it Thor couldn't stop looking at her bosom awkwardly. It was not that he wouldn't have seen breasts before, and hers were rather small and covered but he found them rather… "Perky," he blurted out without thinking, his mind being clouded by that strong biochemical attraction.

"Excuse me?" Emma gasped, noticing that he had been checking up her bosom.

Her hardened nipples were bulging through the fabric of her jumpsuit as it was glued onto her front in the jet's air current. _Loki had gotten her overly excited, all right!_

Quickly she crossed her arms over her chest, scowling at him and flipping him the bird. "_Sleazebag!_" she murmured, offended, pressing herself against Loki for seeking shelter. _Suddenly everyone was behaving weirdly!_

Loki narrowed his eyes at Thor, picking Emma under his arm protectively. "Brother, please! Offend her again and I will turn you a frog for permanently!" he resented and left with her.

Thor gasped. "What? No! I was speaking about the… cool breeze," he cried out and slapped himself in the face to clear his head. _What the hell was wrong with him?_ _He desperately needed to find Jane!_

**… …**

By the time Emma, Loki and Thor made back to their campsite, the mysterious, dark-silver jet was already landed and they caught Logan embracing a white-haired woman in a warm and friendly manner. And suddenly Emma felt strange yet curious as her father's live was being introduced to her in so short notice.

With a quick look in the lights coming from back of the opened aircraft's rear-hatch, the woman looked pretty with her short, all white hair and golden olive skin. And to her puzzlement Emma felt uneasy, a sting of jealousy perhaps. It wasn't that she would have been jealous of him, or that she would have been nursing hopes for him and her mother to unite. Those dreams of her childhood had died ages ago in her teen years. But she had already been planning to hang around with Logan if Loki was going back home for unspecific time. Now she wasn't so sure of her future plans.

She squeezed Loki's hand and decided to be happy for Logan. She would have been a fool to think that a man like Logan didn't have a life of his own with lady friends and all. And that lady was easy on the eye. Emma had expected some sort of uniform, but the lady wore a casual black jacket and blue skinny-fit jeans.

She grinned as it was time for a payback for all of Logan's parental lecturing concerning Loki and her.

"Jeez! Logan, save some of that for later, will you!" she teased with a bold smirk.

Logan rolled his eyes while breaking off the hug and his _friend_ gave to that an amused smile. "Zip it, _kid_! And come over here, I want you to meet a friend of mine," he yelped over his shoulder more gently now, then he continued to his friend in a quiet tone: "Sorry, she's a terrible wiseass. I don't know where she has gotten that from."

"Really? It must be running in the family." The woman grinned and offered her hand at Emma.

When Wolverine's kid stepped out of the shadows, revealing her face, Storm studied her a moment with a surprised expression as if she'd have known her, and it made Emma thinking that she must have some dirt on her face or something. Or, then she should have known her, but she couldn't because those memories hadn't grown back after her brain damage. So, she just decided to take care of the introductions fast and simply.

"Hi, I'm Emma Morgan."

"Hi! Ororo Munroe. But everybody calls me Storm," the lady said friendly when they shook hands. But she kept studying her a few second longer than usually when two people meet the first time and it made Emma more uncomfortable. "So… you're Logan's daughter?"

Emma tried to ignore the strange atmosphere and smiled. "Yeah, that's what I was told. Is that a bad thing?"

"Oh, sorry. No, of course not! I'm just surprised."

"Yeah, I know, she looks nothing like me but we do share a few genes," Logan said approvingly and glanced then at the two E.T. boys from under his furrowed brows. "But I don't know who these two weirdoes are. They just keep tagging along."

To hide her mild annoyance Emma brushed her loose locks behind her ear and lifted her hand on Loki's arm as he stepped next to her. "Storm, this is Loki Odinson. He's my… um…" She watched at him begging him to fill in their current status that was a bit mystery to her too at the moment. _Could she call him her boyfriend? Everybody else did!_

"I am her suitor," Loki declared, solemnly, returning her gaze and Emma felt her cheeks turning red again (cause that had been so sweet and dreadfully lame at the same time). He hated the word '_boyfriend_', since he wasn't a boy anymore and they certainly were beyond friendship.

Logan rolled his eyes, putting his hand on his hips, murmuring something unpleasant about him being more of a _'pursuitor'_.

Ignoring Logan, Loki took Storm's hand and held it softly from her fingers it like a knight in the princess-fairytales and bowed lightly. "Pleasure to meet you, Ms. Munroe."

"Same here…" Storm stammered, being smitten with his charm and soft voice, and surprised of recognizing him. "You're Loki of Asgard, aren't you? Oh my god! The kids in our school love your tricks. They have been following your 'green idealism' in the Net and they think you're very brave. Are you a mutant too?"

Loki smiled, coyly at first. _He had truly become known around this realm!_ "I am sorry, no. I am an Asgardian. But I am greatly pleased to hear that the children are adopting _greener_ values. The young ones are the future after all."

"Yeah."

They held eye contact and hands only a few seconds but those few seconds felt suddenly too long for Emma who found herself being a spectator of their – what seemed as an obvious checking each other out – introduction. And a whole new emotion rushed over her; she caught herself being insanely jealous of him like an alpha wolf defending her own territory.

To stop herself doing any drastic actions, Emma stepped back and gave way to the other Asgardian.

"And this hunk of a guy is _Thor_! He's a god…" She heard the words coming out from her mouth and noticed Loki shooting her a questioning glance, as if asking _what the hell_. "They are brothers… so they're both… kind of… gods. Um…" She swallowed, wishing that the earth would have swallowed her now, feeling Loki's gaze drilling into her. _She sounded like an idiot!_ "Thor, what were you a god again?"

With courtesy Thor held Storm's hand too, not being so eager to making a number of his divine status, being actually a bit awkward thanks to Emma's introduction. "I am the god of thunder," he said lamely. "Because I can make… thunder and lightning bolts."

Storm tried to look impressed. "Oh? It takes a god to do that now days? Wow! That is something."

Logan heaved an annoyed sigh. "Yeah, these fellows like to think very highly of themselves."

Storm watched at the god of thunder with a quick realization. "Ah, so, you're Thor? Professor Xavier asked me to deliver you a message," she begun and went for her jacket's pocket picking up a small note, reading the details from the note. "He said that you might want to know that '_fury from shield if after Jane Foster'_. Does this mean anything to you?"

Thor stared at the woman puzzled, a worry growing in his face as his gaze met with Loki's. "Jane? SHIELD is after her now because of me? I have to find her! Where is she?"

To his own surprise Loki found no pleasure of his brother's troubled situation even he had mentioned of that possibility to Thor in several occasions. But in those times he had done it only to mess up Thor's mind, and now he didn't want to gloat by saying _'I told you so'_. He clenched his lips together and said nothing at all because anything coming out from his mouth would have sounded smug at the moment.

Storm handed the note to Thor. "She should be in this address, I think. You need a lift there?"

Thor looked more than troubled, checking up the handwritten note. "Where is this '_Forbes Avenue,_ _Pittsburgh'_? Tell me? Which way?"

Strom let out a thinking murmur and checked her surroundings and the direction of the jet. "Pittsburgh is about 200 miles to North-East. I think it's that way," she told pointing her hand at that direction. "I can give you a lift. It's no problem."

"That is very kind of you but no, thank you. I have got this," Thor said lifting up his hammer.

"OK?"

_Jane Foster? There was that name again_, Emma pondered slightly troubled as Thor pulled Loki with him aside to have a private chat. She couldn't tell what they were talking; it sounded a whole different language to her. But their argumentation got heated and they were nearly roaring to each other for a while before they seemed to come into a mutual understanding, then turning their gaze at her. And Emma gulped. She wasn't sure if that was a good sign at all. Their sudden and aloud strife had gotten her on her toes, fearing that things would get physical between them again.

Logan stepped next to Emma, staring at the Asgardians. "What's going on with them?" he asked whispering.

"I don't know."

Loki gave Emma a compassionated look. "Everything is all right," he reassured her before she had dared to ask, his voice returned soft and caring, and his words understandable for her again.

"Yes. My apologies," Thor said to their crowd and they patted each other in the arms brotherly. That was the closest thing to a hug Emma had seen between them two.

Then the godlings stepped further away from the aircraft, disappearing out of her sight. The lights shining from the jet's opened rear hatch made in impossible for her to follow them with her gaze into the darkness. So, she saw it wiser to go after them. After taking only a couple of steps, a glowing, golden flash in the darkness made her freeze. She recognized it as Loki's magic; that illuminating golden glimmer being visible only for a tiny moment.

She heard them exchanging a few words over a strange whirling and spinning sound that kept growing stronger. Then with a sudden whoosh, she felt a fierce gush of wind drawing air straight upwards as if a small angry tornado would have emerged out of nowhere. She gasped for air in the unnatural draught, her heart taking an extra beat with fright as it felt like something big had just been sucked up from the ground.

Her hair still flowing in the wildly stream of air, she lifted her eyes up at the dark sky and saw something human-shaped flying fast against the moonlit clouds and then disappearing behind the tall treetops as it kept flying across the sky.

"_Shit_!" Logan murmured gaping, staring up at the dark, cloudy sky. "You did that?" he asked from Storm who only shook her head.

"Nope! Anyhow, can I get the rest of you to the mansion? Professor is waiting to see you…"

Greatly concerned Emma dropped her gaze down, scanning the darkness and walking forward, not paying attention anymore to Logan's and Storm's conversation behind her. Otherwise the campsite was completely silent. The air was settling after the gust, loose dirt and small things like light twigs and spruce's cones raining back on the ground.

"Loki?" Emma cried out, getting more worried, moving further on, out from the light-cone of the jet.

"I am still here," Loki's soft voice answered her, cutting through the darkness between them before he manifested from the shadows in front of her.

She heaved a relieved sigh, hurrying to him and touching him at first from an arm length to make sure he was real. "Loki, what the hell was that? Did you two fight again?"

Loki took her both hands in his. "Thor had to go seeing someone. He was demanding me to come along but… I said that I was needed here," he explained, glossing over their wrought-up debate, studying her as if trying to see inside of her mind, the insecurity returning in his behaviour.

Emma checked up the sky once more, gawping. "That was Thor? He can fly?"

Loki didn't appreciate that admiring tone in her voice. "Only with Mjölnir."

"All the way to Pittsburgh? That's cool. He's going to see that _Jane Foster_ –person, isn't he?"

"Apparently so."

"Hey, kids! We should go now. Storm is taking us to Westchester for tonight!" Logan shouted to them. Storm had convinced him that the Professor had taken care of SHIELD; the agents wouldn't come snooping around to the mansion in a while.

"In a minute!" Emma shouted back to him, unwilling to end her conversation with Loki. "Now you really have to tell me who Jane Foster is, if she makes guys fly like that."

In the meagre light that was illuminating his face Loki looked uncomfortable. It felt like Thor and that wretched woman of his were the reason that his happiness was hanging in the balance once more.

"Jane Foster is the woman Thor loves. A mortal. He met her in New Mexico while he was exiled there…"

"You mean she is Thor's girlfriend?" Emma grinned at first but swallowed then, staring deep into his eyes, her expression turning serious and mirroring his. "Oh my god…" She trailed off, understanding now why he had wanted to kill that specific lady.

_That would have been the worst possible revenge to his brother!_ And only then she realized how dreadfully angry and mad and desperate he must have been when ending up in Greenland where she met him.

She fell completely silence, watching at that beautiful, divine creature who had wooed her so completely that she had been willing to give up everything else in her life for him. _He would have killed an innocent woman in cold blood whose only mistake had been just for loving his brother._

Loki knew that cautious look of hers. He read her like an open book, keeping her hands in his, holding on gently. "Emma, please say something."

She had to think, hard. "If we would have made it to New Mexico together, would you have really killed that woman?"

"Like I said, you made me put aside those plans. We should not dwell on it anymore."

Emma moved so close to him that the tips of her shoes bumped against his. "Loki, I want you to be completely honest with me. When we first met, when you asked if I was Jane Foster…"

"Please, stop right there. Don't do this."

"…and to save my own ass if I would have lied and answered yes, would you have killed me then?" she asked with serious tone.

Loki took a deep breath, the memory of that moment haunting him with a realization that only one wrong decision then could have terribly altered everything between them. He was silent and still before he answered. "I would have. Unmercifully. Without the slightest consideration," he said simply, nearly coldly, his eyes getting wet.

Her throat tightened and she could only nod, dropping her gaze down, feeling so very unreal. She couldn't tell why she felt so shocked by this, she had known it from the day one and yet she had fallen in love with him.

Slowly she tried to claim her hands but he didn't let go of her.

"Please," he pledged as she tried harder to free herself from his grip and he felt his heart lurch. "You asked me to be honest. This is as sincere as I can be. We have come a long way since the night we met. Emma, everything changed with you. You were my greatest distraction and yet the only thing clarifying my vengeful thoughts. I could never hurt you, you must know that. Look at me!" he begged lifting her hands with his on his chest and she obeyed, watching at him tears brimming in her eyes, only wanting to hold him even a small part of her feared him again after his brutally honest confession.

As though one obsession had been replaced with another, he couldn't let go of her. He wouldn't; she belonged to him.

"You wound me with your fearful eyes, my love. Have I not yet proven myself to you? There are no more secrets between us. I shall accept that I will never be a king. I cannot create thunder or lighting like Thor does. I cannot fly. I am unworthy, for all of that. But I do love you, Emma Morgan. And if you would ask me, I would save this world for you or burn it to the ground. As long as you want me, I will never let go of you. That, I swear," he said passionately like a poet with his soft, deep angelic voice.

He waited her to say something, anything at all, a desperate look seizing his emerald eyes. His breaths became deeper. He held her hands against his breast, his fingers caressing the back of her palms and entwining with hers. "You said you love me. You said you do not care what I have done in the past… Please, say something."

Emma didn't know what to say. She just stared back at him, her forearms resting over his chest pinned there by his hands. She loved him. Too much, she reflected, even she couldn't always fully understand him or his intentions. It was honesty she had asked from him and that's what he had given her. And this was testing the limits of her understanding towards him.

She took a breath and exhaled it slowly through her mouth to soothe herself. "Loki, I love you, but sometimes I wish I could truly see what's going on inside your head."

His face looked sad even a gentle smile played on his lips. "I am afraid you may not like what you would find there. To be honest, I don't like everything what is inside of my head. _There are too many demons._ But that is why I keep you here, safe from them," he said and moved her hands over his heart.

Feeling his heart beating fiercely under her palms, she fell for his sweet words, tears rolling down on her cheeks. She knew she was a helpless sucker for him, wanting nothing else but him. And yet so unsure, was she more of a fool to trust him or disbelieve him. But like he said, they had come a long way from their first encounter, so long that what happened then didn't matter anymore. The closeness they had shared had been like a healing force, making her whole. She wasn't ready to give it up, ever.

She needed a moment to pull herself together and then she eventually spoke her mind: "What you said, it's not true. I don't believe you."

"Emma…" Loki begun with a helpless sigh.

She slipped her hand free from his hold and hushed him down, her fingers on his lips, feeling his soft and sensitive skin under her fingers. She wasn't done yet. She lifted both of her hands on his face, caressing him, leaning onto him.

"You will always be my king," she said gently and saw confusion sweeping over his face. She knew now he needed her as much she needed him to be complete. "Who needs freaking thunder anyway? It just spoils everyone's perfect day. Loki, when I'm with you, I feel like we can fly. You are worthy so much more than you realize. And if Asgard didn't see that, if they didn't respect you then… _fuck Asgard!_ They don't deserve you. But if you are going back, we'll need to set some ground rules to make this long distance relationship work."

His beautiful face lit with such variety of emotions that he couldn't say another word. He scooped her in his embrace and kissed her with devotion, drowning her in his love.

"Hey! Get your damn asses in the jet already! I mean it! If you two are making out there again, I'm going to come over there and start chopping off some Asgardian body parts!" Logan's grumpy voice called out in the dark.


	28. 28 Heroes

_According to Finnish calendar today is Emma's nameday, and to celebrate our heroine's day with you, I updated two new chapters. Hope you enjoy. This chapter is more or less dedicated to agent Coulson who happens to be one of my favourite MCU characters right after Loki. The next chapter will be dealing with Emma and Loki again._

**… …**

After rising from the dead and waking up from an unzipped body-bag like the Nosferatu, one could have considered that his day was done. But not agent Phil Coulson. He grumbled about the mess while stripping off his fake-blood stained suit and his favourite light-blue shirt inside the airborne Quinjet. _That had been one of his good suits._ The new, clean set of clothing was waiting for him on the bench inside the cabin.

A whistle from the cockpit made him frown while he was scrubbing his chest clean from the dried fake-blood, standing there topless and doing his best to keep his balance.

"Wow, you must be working out, sir!" Natasha remarked, giving him and Maria Hill an amused glance over her shoulder.

Commander Hill sat in the cabin and lifted her eyes from her paperwork at Coulson's half-naked form. "Yeah, for a dead guy you're in not bad shape, agent Coulson."

Coulson had no issues of taking his shirt off in front of the ladies, but he had to keep working with these two wicked '_Charlie's angels'_ in the distant future. And he didn't feel like _the Charlie_, they made him feeling more of _the Bosley_.

"If you're enjoying of this eye-candy so much then why don't you take a picture," Coulson said sarcastically, throwing on a clean shirt.

"I already have!" Natasha grinned, lifting up her mobile phone in triumph. "I can't wait to show this to Clint."

Coulson rolled his eyes. He knew they were trying to cheer him up since he had been – according to the official records – died in the line of duty, and off the record he lost his mind after Loki's brainwash and tried to kill director Fury. Fury had been forced to shoot him down. That's what everybody thought, that's what they had made it looked like. And Coulson hated that. He would have preferred _a hero's death_. It would have been more rewarding.

To keep him safe and hidden from Hydra, Fury was sending him on a vacation in an unspecific time with a fake identity. He was immediately called back when the danger was over. Only Fury, Romanoff and Commander Hill knew the truth, everyone else believed him to be dead. Coulson had insisted that they would summon him back when Emma Morgan was found because he was pretty sure she wouldn't co-operate with anyone else but him.

Fury had implied that he was trying to recruit Steve Rogers, the one and only Captain America, helping out SHEILD to catch the Asgardians, because it highly seemed that Ironman was out of the picture until his suits were fixed. And Coulson was unhappy because he would have so wanted to meet his old childhood hero. In fact he had an impressive full collection of the original Captain America vintage trading cards and he would have loved to get those signed by the Captain himself.

"So, here are your temporary IDs until I'll get you the passport and driver's license with the new identity," Maria Hill said as she handed him his new IDs she had managed to put together from what she had with her. "And a new pager in case Fury contacts you."

"Thanks," Coulson said, fully dressed in his suit again, checking each item thoroughly before shoving them into his pockets. "What about my stuff? There are things I need from my apartment."

"Sorry, you can't go there anymore. If there something you need, give me the keys and I'll fetch it for you. You're booked into the airport hotel and your flight to Aruba leaves tomorrow morning. I'll make sure you get your IDs before that."

Coulson's forehead was furrowed. "I don't want to go to the Caribbean. I was thinking about visiting Ireland or Scotland."

"Well, from there you're free to go where ever you want. Here's also an untraceable corporate credit card. Use it wisely."

"Oh, I love Aruba. The beaches there are amazing. A little adventure never hurts anyone, Coulson," Natasha joined in the conversation she had been listening while piloting the jet. "I would have taken you there by myself but Fury needs me here. We'll drop you off to the hotel now and take your _'body'_ back to District."

"Actually, there's still something I have to do first. Is there any chance you could drop me off to Arlington?" agent Coulson asked and sat on the bench.

"Oh? In that case," Maria Hill smirked while turning around and then handing him the last heavy item, "you're probably going to need this."

Coulson looked at the parachute bag she was offering to him and frowned sullenly. "Oh, you've got to be kidding me!"

"Nope. Happy landing, sir!"

**… …**

Pittsburgh.

"Hey! Excuse me? I know my rights. You can't do this to me again!" Jane Foster protested loudly as two men in black forced her on the backseat of a big black SUV after literally dragging her out from her hotel room late in the evening.

Without any further explanations a door of the car was slammed close in front of her eyes, she staring out through the side window at Eric Selvig and Darcy who stared back at her equally dumbfound and worried.

The agents sat on the front seats and the car was in motion before she had said another word.

Jane kept watching through the darkened rear window as her friends and the Hilton hotel was distancing behind her and she slumped back on the seat, seeing it wiser to put on a seatbelt.

"If this is about my research, that other agents… ah… Coulson said it's OK back in New Mexico. He said I can carry on with my work. Call him and check it up form him," she tried again to reason with her reticent capturers who were sitting behind a bullet-proof glass fortified with metal mesh.

They had said they were from SHIELD and that she needed to come along with them, nothing more. And she was getting more and more worried, recalling Eric telling her that some of his old colleague had been working on with something suspicious once and one day people had came for him and after that he had just disappeared.

"I have a right to know where you are taking me!" Jane said, already getting tired of her monolog. "This is a kidnap, you know!"

"Calm down, Ms. Foster. This is for your own safety," the other agent said calmly through a speaker, giving her a blank glance.

"I don't feel safe!" she retorted.

As the car stopped for a moment in the red-lights, she took note that the doors on the back were lacking handles. She would have run out if she could have gotten the door open. "I demand to speak with your boss!" Jane cried out.

"You will. Once we'll take you to Washington D.C."

"Washington?" she gasped and glanced outside again, the city lights flashing behind the windows. It would take four to five hours to get there, she thought, troubled.

The agents didn't speak to her, neither listened to her. In fact they had turned off the speakers so that they didn't hear her anymore. Jane watched at them every now and then as they talked to each other and occasionally seemed to report through a communicator.

Uncertainty building up in her, she kept gazing out, into the dark changing scenery, the city already left far behind. She wished Thor would have been there now. He had promised her to return and she was beginning to fear that something bad had happened to him when he went after his brother Loki.

A few drops of rain fell on the glass of the side window, her head resting against it. High on the black cloudy sky thunderstorm was developing unexpectedly. When more drops of rain were pattering against the glass she lifted her gaze up, seeing the dark clouds above glowing with faint flashes of lightings.

"Thor?" Jane whispered hopefully, watching at the storm building up and blazes of lightings reaching all the way to the ground very far ahead. The weather forecast hadn't mentioned a thing about a storm.

The rain started to pour down just like they would have driven into a heart of the raging thunderstorm, the downpour so heavy that the agents couldn't see the road and they had to slow down the speed.

Jane felt the car loosing contact with the road and sliding on the water towards the roadside. The driver did all he could to take control of the situation, easing his foot on the gas pedal, sifting down on gears, but the car kept floating over the water like it would have been carried on the side of the road where tiers finally bit on the ground. And they stopped for a moment.

"Hey! I want to get out of this car!" Jane shouted, knocking on the safety glass between her and the agents. But the hard rain hammered on the roof so fiercely that they didn't hear her knocking.

The dark eastern sky, the direction they were heading, was illuminated by another strike of a massive lighting bolt and a loud rumble of thunder followed in three seconds.

Jane swallowed. "OK, maybe I stay…" she murmured, feeling like the thunder god was very angry for some reason.

The agents glanced at each other. "Do you think it's him?" the driver asked a bit worried.

"Don't know. I'll contact Fury," the other one said and called for the big boss. He waited a moment and then checked up his phone. "Damn it! Here's no signal," he grunted.

"Then we'll just keep going."

Jane could tell by the agents' expressions that something was going on and she kept knocking on the glass and wanting them to tell her what was it all about. All she got back from was a strong encouragement for trying to rest.

They kept driving. And just as suddenly the rainstorm and thunder had begun, it was also over, leaving Jane disappointed.

Only after a few more miles, flashing blue lights ahead made the driver slowing down the speed again as it seemed that they were advancing towards a police roadblock; two police vehicles blocking the whole road.

Jane saw her opportunity to make a scene as they stopped in front of the police cars, the lights of the flashing blue lights illuminating the interior of the SUV. To her surprise, she noticed only one man coming towards them with a flashlight and he didn't look like your traditional officer of a highway patrol. No, he wore all black and on top of it he was wearing a long black leather coat.

"What is director Fury doing here?" the driver asked, puzzled, seeing the big boss approaching them.

"I don't know. Weren't we supposed to meet him at Triskelion?" the other one said and checked his phone again. It still hadn't a signal.

Director Fury walked slowly next to the SUV and hunched down a bit to take a glance inside with his flashlight.

"Sir? We weren't expecting to meet you here," the driver said as the side window was coming down.

Jane peered through the meshed glass at the dark-skinned man with an eye-patch. His gaze met with hers and a satisfied smile-alike appeared on his face only briefly, sending cold chills along her spine and making her feel like she was a piece of merchandise. Then he gave a clear gesture to the agents to getting out of the car for a talk. Without another question asked, the agents exchanged glances and stepped out.

Cautiously Jane knocked on the side window. "Hey! Are you the boss? I need to speak with you!" she exclaimed at him and he cast another look at her, a long one, making her feel even more uneasy. "Oh god, they're going to kill me," she murmured to herself, trying to find a way to open the door again.

She couldn't quite understand what happened next when both of the agents were pushed against the side of the car with a thud. Their backs were blocking her view but when they moved a bit, Jane took note they were handcuffed to each other from their wrists, the cuffs going between the front door's handle, trapping them outside the car. They were talking or more like shouting something at the third guy.

Alarmed Jane followed the dark man with her gaze as he circled the car, keeping his eyes on her, going for the rear door to get to her. He waved his hand and grin at her like some mad man. After seeing her horrid expression, he glanced down at himself, took a few steps backwards and lifted his flashlight like the Statue of Liberty.

"OK?" Jane murmured, troubled.

But then the illusions came down with a spark of lighting; the flashlight turning into a big hammer and the dark man's appearance changed with a sparkling light, revealing the god of thunder in his majestic Asgardian outlooks.

"Thor?" Jane whispered, amazed this time as the door opened and he peeked in, the interior lights illuminating his face and his big smile. "Thor!"

"Hello Jane," Thor said in a happy but apologising tone, offering his hand to her. "I am sorry…"

"You came back!" Jane exclaimed, overly delighted, moving to him and capturing his face between her hands, kissing him the way she had been dreaming of kissing him for days.

Thor closed her in his arms and slowly lifted out from the car, his mouth never leaving hers. It was a welcome kiss to die for and he had no hurry to end it.

The agents stared at the lovers, cuffed, unarmed, and tied up, but then a golden flash in the corner of their eyes forced them to turn around and facing another unexpected visitor as Loki's projection appeared in front to them.

"What the…?"

Loki lifted his finger at them, telling them to be quiet. Then he noticed his brother being a bit engaged and rolled his eyes. "Ah, I assume you won't be joining us this evening, brother?" he asked and got Thor attention, his brother only glancing at his direction, his mouth being occupied. While holding Jane, Thor waved his hand asking Loki to go away.

Loki snorted, offended. _Of course Thor wouldn't bother to introduce him to his woman!_

"Fine! Don't come bothering us until tomorrow morning then! I just..." Loki murmured and waved his hand towards the police cars which vanished with their flashing blue lights, being only illusions cast by him earlier to help his brother. Then he was gone, concentrating on matters that mattered.

**… …**

Nothing opened tired eyes better than a parachute dive into a city in the night. It was madness but at least it made Coulson focus with the living. After ditching his parachute into a tree in Lyon Village Park he climbed over the fence and stripped off his jumpsuit like the real James Bond. From there he walked a few blocks to the all-night café where he was supposed to meet with Aileen Lange.

He was late, he realized, checking the time from his wristwatch as he entered the cosy cafeteria. The heavenly scent of freshly brewed coffee greeting him once he stepped in and he was craving for a cup.

But first he gave a look over the place, searching for Emma Morgan's mother with the description he had put together. The place was half-full and with a quick check there were only two ladies sitting at their tables alone. The other was an old lady. But the other one could have been her, looking young-ish, wearing a tight pink shirt that revealed more than it hid_._ Her blond hair was on a high ponytail and she had put on a serious war paint. _That couldn't be her! _Or by the unfavourable descriptions Emma had given about her mother, it could have very well been her. She looked like she was waiting for someone and that was his cue.

Of course there were other women in the cafeteria but they all had company and they were fully immersed in conversations with their partners. Coulson made yet another check while moving to the counter and eyed at the long list of different fancy coffees, annoyed. _Why the heck there had to be so many choices? It was still coffee!_ There was one choice that captured his eyes and made him smile inwardly with curiosity, so he made an order. Then he went to the blond pink-shirt woman while waiting for his cup.

When stopping there next to her table he couldn't ignore her exposed cleavage. "Mrs. Lange?" he asked uncomfortably and cautiously, and lifted his focus onto her brown eyes. _Brown eyes! _It hit him._ This wasn't her!_

The woman smiled, the glitter eye-shadow glimmering on her eyelids. "Mr. Coulson? Did you come alone?"

Coulson knew there was something wrong. This couldn't be her. She didn't sound the same as on the phone. He smelled a cheap set up here. "Er… Yes. It's just me," he answered while his perceptive gaze was searching for possible Hydra minions among the customers.

Slowly she stood up and tilted her head. "Well, honey, in a right price, I can be anyone you want," she whispered with a suggestive smile and picked up her jacket and a purse as if she was leaving.

"I'm sorry. I mistook you for someone else," Coulson returned her offering hastily.

"Mr. Coulson?" A more familiar voice called for him from behind.

He turned to see an attractive blond-haired lady in a perfectly fitting plum trouser-suit staring back at him questioningly. A pair of bright-blue eyes was sizing him up as she took one cautious step closer. There was no doubt about it. She was Emma's mother. They had the same blue eyes and the slender features, both appearing younger than their age. Of course they weren't identical but so much alike that this could have almost been Emma Morgan twenty years older with more feminine style. Her skin was lightly tanned under the Florida's sun. And she looked far from that unfitting mother-type what Emma had let him to believe.

"Mrs. Lange?" Coulson aimed his question again. She nodded, squeezing tight of the strap her shoulder-bag.

"Thank you, Mindy," she said friendly, handing to the other blond a folded napkin discreetly.

Mindy checked it up and was notably pleased with the reward of her services, giving them a suggestive smirk. "Have good dates, you two. By the way, if you're looking for some threesome later, I'm available tonight."

"We're fine, thank you. But please, consider what I told you. You would do much better in another profession," Mrs. Lange said, not at all awkward, sounding like a professional employment agent.

Mindy bid them goodnights and left, leaving them standing there for a moment in an uncertain atmosphere.

Aileen Lange turned her gaze back at the agent, holding onto her shoulder-bag like that would have been her lift-raft. She looked calm and yet uncertain. "I'm sorry about that, but I have developed some major trust issues concerning the government's people. I had to make sure you came alone."

"Trust me, I fully understand," Coulson said, speaking from experience, and offered them to take a seat at the table and they sat down.

He couldn't help but to think (and admire) that both women of this family seemed to be as much resourceful in troubling situations. She had hired a prostitute to pay herself a chance to bail out from a possible set up. _If they couldn't find Emma Morgan, maybe they should hire her mother!_

"And I'm sorry too. I wish I could have brought you some better news about your daughter. I'm afraid we haven't reached her yet." He touched the side of his hip to make sure he hadn't lost his new pager in case Fury should contact him. It was still there in his pocket.

"You said she is with her father. What I don't understand is that how did you find Logan? I never even knew his full name. I tried five years tracking him down and had not luck with that. Please, tell me he has no criminal record."

"Er… no. It is just that we have our… own records."

She remained calm and cautious. "He's a mutant, isn't he?"

"Yes. But let me assure you we have nothing against mutants."

She heaved a sigh, an upset and relieved sigh at the same time, closing her eyes. "I knew it." She paused for a few seconds, uneasily, keeping herself under control. "How is she? You said you have spoken with Emily. How is she like? Is she happy?" she asked then with a mother's concern, a spark of hope lighting her blue eyes.

"The last time I heard from her she sounded very happy," Coulson said and when he came to think of that it was true. "Her last eight years haven't been the easiest ones but she has managed surprisingly well considering…" He stopped and saw it wiser keep quiet about Hydra. He went for his jacket's inner pocket and picked up a folded paper; a printed picture of Emma Morgan he had printed with him in the Quinjet. "This picture was taken last week. "

He laid it open on the table for Mrs. Lange to see and she pulled it gently towards her, staring down at the only image of her grown-up daughter, a longingly sigh passing her lips.

He took note she wasn't wearing a wedding ring, and the even tan on her ring finger told him that she hadn't wore it in a long time. The deep-dark purple nail-polish on her slender fingers matched elegantly the colour of her suit and gave an attractively classic impression.

Coulson met her inquiring gaze again. "She is using her grandmother's name; Emma Morgan. She is smart and strong and decisive. Recently she's been working for the NASA, in the space research; radio astronomy I believe. And she's done very well. Actually, we are hoping to recruit her in the future. Mrs. Lange, you have every reason to be proud of her."

Her cool demeanour was cracking with those praising words, her fingers caressing the face in the image. "I have always been. She's grown up… My little baby girl is so beautiful." She lifted her gaze at the agent. "All this time I knew she was alive. She's always been the stronger of the two of us, just like her grandmother. They used to be inseparable. When my mother died, Emily was twelve and there was just the two of us left, and I didn't know how to go on. I remember; she sat on my lap and gave me a squeezing hug and said that we'll be all right. And so we did. We managed."

A waiter came to bring Coulson his cup of warm drink he'd ordered and after seeing that, Aileen Lange kept staring down at the mug of hot chocolate before him, the sweet scent of the hot beverage sending her deeper down the memory lane.

Bemused Coulson gazed down at his order that was everything but manly and caffeine-rich, with a mighty wisp of whipped cream on top.

He grimaced. "I'm trying to reduce my caffeine intake…" he answered awkwardly before she had made any remark of his drink of choice.

Her blue eyes were getting wet. "Emily used to love hot chocolate back then." A first smile manifested on her face. "She used to love chocolate, in any form. She could eat tons of it and it never showed on her."

"Yeah, she still does enjoy it. In fact she recommended me to give this a try," Coulson explained and fought against the whipped cream that was getting the upper hand. "So, I'm taking the risk and live dangerously," he said then and took a sip from his cup. It was hot and burning his tongue. "Damn! This is hot!" he grunted, wiping the cream off from his upper lip. "Sorry."

That seemed to break the ice and Aileen felt a bit easier to trust him. A man drinking hot chocolate couldn't be too bad.

"I know I wasn't always the best mother but I loved her. I still do. Not a day goes by that I don't think of her or pray for her. A mutant or not, I could have never abandoned her. My children mean everything to me."

"Of course. I'm not questioning that."

She went for her bag, keeping her purple mini stun-gun hidden from him (she never left the house without it), and pulled a small photo album on the table. She picked up a newspaper clip between the pages and showed it to him. It was a death notice of Emily Morrison, dated eight years back.

"Mr. Coulson, my daughter was stolen from me. This notice was published in our local newspaper two weeks after Emily was taken. I had no idea. They arranged everything; making it look like she'd died so that no one would come asking questions."

She was quiet, arranging her thoughts before continuing and Coulson waited, studying the death notice.

"A few days after Emily's _mutation_ was discovered, those people came in to our house and told that she had an unknown mutation, and that it could be dangerous for her. They said they had a cure and they only needed to run some tests on her to see if it was right for her state. I hesitated to send her anywhere… but we were both still shocked about it. She was soon turning seventeen and I wanted her to have a normal life so I accepted it. They convinced us by telling that without the treatment she might die. I should have realized that there was something wrong about them when they didn't let me come along with her. But we had a blind faith to the government because my father had made a long career in the army." She paused again and cleared her throat.

"The tests were supposed to take only a couple of days. They gave me an address and a number where to contact her. When I call to her mobile phone a few hours late, it was turned off. The number they had given me was invalid. And the address was fake. When I drove across the country to that hospital to find her I only found out that the whole place didn't exist. And I realized it too late. They had her and I never knew what they did to her or why they had taken her. Why did they take her, Mr. Coulson? Why her?"

Coulson kept staring down at the death notice in front of him, unable to even imagine the mother's struggles or worries. Things were totally different that Emma had believed. He returned her demanding gaze. "I'm sorry, Mrs. Lange. I'm afraid I don't know. But your daughter has a unique gift. Perhaps they wanted to study that. Genetic research, I believe," he said compassionately, unwilling to reveal all the unpleasant details. "She wasn't the only mutant they studied."

"Did they hurt her?" That question was harder to ask and her it nearly got stuck in her throat. Coulson didn't have to say a word; she already read the answer from his face. "Oh god…" she sighed painfully, tears escaping her brimming eyes.

"Mrs. Lange, your daughter is a fighter. She _discharged_ herself and made her way away from them long before we found them and put an end to their operations. She pulled through it and continued her life as the best she could. I don't know how she got her new identity but she educated herself and found jobs. And recently she's done some valuable things, including saving my life. So, if you ask me, I might even call her a hero."

She cried silently and wiped her eyes with a handkerchief after his words which brought a sad smile on her lips. "A hero?" she whispered, running her hand over the photo album and opening it gently from a certain spread of pages. "She always wanted to be a hero."

A set of old pictures from Emma Morgan's childhood opened in front of him and Aileen touched a couple of them with a loving smile before turning the book around for him to see.

"My father was an old-fashioned man but a loving one. He didn't approve me having a baby on my own. But when Emily was born, he couldn't be more proud. Did you know her birthday is 4 of July? When my father held her the first time in his arms, he said that she was born into this world to do something great one day," she said softly recalling her father's words. "I brought this old album with me so we could have watched these together with her while catching up. And now… It's still all I have from her."

Coulson couldn't help but to smile curiously when he saw a picture of a little, widely smiling girl with long curly blond hair, running on a backyard in a pink princess-dress, the hemline royally smudged with mud, and carrying a shield made apparently from a boiler lid with a painted white star in the middle of red and blue circles. The paint-job made an impression on him. It resembled very much of the Cap's shield.

"This is Emily?" He had to ask just to be sure. Those were her blue eyes, looking straight at the camera and a mighty grin that could have taken over the world.

"Yeah, she was like a force of nature locked up in a tiny bottle. When she was five or six she had this crazy little-girl's crush on Steve Rogers. You now? Captain America. I blame it on my father. That was the lid of my best saucepan. My father painted it for her and I never got it back. She even slept with it."

"We've all been there," Phil Coulson smiled a bit awkwardly and she let out a tiny laugh at that.

He had been planning to gather some helpful information about Emma Morgan from her mother, but suddenly Coulson had a privilege to get to know of her early history. And he learned several interesting facts such as that her grandfather had actually met Captain America while serving his country in Germany during WW2. Corporal Morrison and his team had been captured by the Nazis. But Coulson knew better that their capturers had actually been the very first Hydra contingent that Steve Rogers had taken down back then. And to his surprise it occurred to him that this family had been victimized by Hydra in two different generations, three in fact.

Little baby Emily had been growing up listening her grandfather's tales of Captain Rogers's heroic deeds as bedtime-stories. And it hit him then that he had have a whole wrong approach with her earlier. He should have sent Steve Rogers talking with her. If anyone then her childhood hero could have turned her head to join SHIELD.

_And he should have shown her his whole trading card collection!_

They sat a long time in the cafeteria and talked about Emily; Aileen Lange finally having a chance to talk about her daughter with someone who knew her, being able to pour out her heart, and Coulson intrigued to learn more. As subtle as he could he told her about the phases of her daughter's life, leaving all the nasty stuff unsaid. She had been delighted to hear that Emily was dating someone but Coulson choose not to tell that she was mingling with a mad alien. She told about her younger daughters too and it came out that she and her husband had been living in separation nearly six months waiting for their divorce to become official. Aileen too had build her lift from scratch again being now a devoted mother of two young daughters, doing a voluntary work in a national organization helping runaway children reunite with their families or finding foster families. And her passion had been teaching self-defence to women and young girls. All that for a selfish need to do something that maybe one day she could come across with her lost daughter.

As his cup of hot chocolate was slowly draining empty, Coulson was starting to find Mrs. Lange's classical, temperate beauty appealing his eye. The agent in him was telling him to stay focus, but he was off duty.

After they finished with the photo album, Aileen continued her story: "I didn't know what else to do so I went to the police. They of course send FBI. I talked with so many people but no one believed me. They implied that maybe I'd been a bad mother and my child had runaway. They promised to search for her but they did nothing. So, I took all our savings and hired a private investigator. That was a mistake."

She was quiet and took a breath. "He found out something. He called me and said he couldn't carry on with the investigations because it was leading him to the government and he didn't want to get himself killed. Only four days later… local fishermen found his body from the lake. Those people wanted me to keep quiet. I had been living in our house without any loan for years and suddenly the bank called and said that I had a mortgage I couldn't afford and other loans I had never in my life taken. I was forced to sell our home, and nearly everything we own, ending up with only a few hundreds bucks," Aileen Lange explained, ashamed and bitter but innocent of all that. She stared down at the family photo album, her fingers caressing the dear memories. "Then one day I had a phone call. A man said that if I wouldn't stop searching for her, they would kill her." She closed her eyes again, covering them with her hands. "When you called me… I… I…" Her voice broke completely.

"I understand," Coulson said caringly and waited as long as she had pulled herself together again, offering some words of consolation and napkins.

"Do you have children, Mr. Coulson?"

Coulson was quiet, recalling his conversation about the same matter with Emma. "No, I don't."

"Then how could you possibly even begin to understand…?" She stopped herself when her voice rose too much, getting attention from the other tables. "I'm sorry. This brings back all the frustration and anger…"

"It's all right. I'm not saying that I understand or can even imagine all the struggles you've been through. I'm sure you did more than any mother could have done but you had faceless, organized people up against you, hiding in the machinery of government. There's no chance to face something like that alone. But if it's any consolation to you I still think you pull out as a winner. You're a survivor just like your daughter. If Emma – correction – Emily has gotten her fighting spirit from someone then that'll be you, Mrs. Lange. Never underestimate yourself."

Her eyes turned at the agent who had shown her only great sympathy. "Thank you," she whispered, and that was the most sincere thanks she had ever given.

Coulson encouraged her to continue telling her side of the story and she did:

"It was like one of those nightmares you just to wake up from. I had lost her, I had lost our home, but I never lost my hope on her. I gathered some of her favorite things in a box and left it to our neighbor, in case she would return. They thought I had gone mad because they believed her to be dead. I had no home anymore, no place to go and not much money. I just tried to survive. It had been two months, two weeks and three days; I had a new place to live and I went to see our old neighbors to give them my new contact information… Old Mrs. Norris stared at me like she's had seen a ghost. She said that Emily had come home only a few days earlier and picked up her stuff I had left for her. Mrs. Norris said that she had barely recognized her, she had been all skin and bone but it had been her. I spent next weeks searching for her day and night, rummaging around every place in the town I could imagine but no one else had seen her. She was gone again. She had come home but I wasn't there. Our house was already sold. She loved that place. She must have believed that I had left her…"

All the pain, guilt and bitterness went through Aileen again. She took a long time gathering herself but found the strength to carry on.

"At least I knew she was alive and she had gotten the stuff I had left for her. I know that Emily would hate me for selling her greatest treasures, but I needed to get the money for her. So, I sold those silly trading cards my father had given her before he died; a set of the Captain America cards she treasured above anything else," she said sadly with a trace of sorry smile.

Phil Coulson stared at the woman in front of him dumbfound. "The original vintage cards?"

"Yeah, I sold them through the net. Some poor old fanboy paid 600 dollars for three pieces of old paperboard. And I'm afraid that all of them weren't even in a proper trading condition. Emily had left her own marks in them when she was a little," she confessed sounding a bit sorry for her small desperate cheat back then.

Coulson broke into a genuine smile, realizing something unbelievable that had bothered him for eight years. "Two of the cards had additional initials 'E.M.' with tiny pink drawn hearts on the backside?" he guessed.

The woman stared at him confused. "Yeah… h-how did you know?"

Coulson couldn't stop smiling awkwardly. "Because I was the poor old fanboy who paid 600 dollars for those cards."

Aileen Lange looked slightly worried. "Oh my god! I'm sorry. I... I will pay you back…"

"There's no need," Coulson promised and shook his head amused, unable to fully understand the irony of the whole situation. But in some level it felt like things had nearly come full circle. He needed to find Emma Morgan again to return the cards to her. "In fact… if I would have known then that I'll be getting the initials of our future hero as well, I would have paid you double."

He leaned his arms on the table, crossing his fingers. "Mrs. Lange, you've been bravely fighting a loosing battle alone too long. I had a chance to meet Emily Morrison and Emma Morgan. She is a reasonable young woman, but I've seen that there is a little girl inside of her that still needs her mother. I promise you that no matter how long it will take, I will do all in my powers to find your daughter for you," he swore, seeing that as his obligation for now on.

Aileen Lange watched at him gratefully with teary-eyes and lifted her fingers over her lips to stop herself crying. "Thank you, Mr. Coulson. I don't know what to say," she whispered.

"Please, just call me Phil."

She smiled at him, a new glimmer of hope lighting her eyes. "Aileen."


	29. 29 The X-mansion

When they stepped aboard the jet, the god of mischief smiled at her playfully in a way that made Logan noticeably pissed off. When they flied to that mysterious mansion, he smiled at her that charming, assertive, sexy smile of his which made Emma's cheeks glowing while sitting on her seat next to his. And after landing on the backyard of the X-mansion, Loki arched his dark brows suggestively as if a night together in a magnificent mansion again would have been indicating for ardent heavenly sex.

He had every reason to be contented; Emma had vowed to be his own, and he had gotten Thor off his back for a moment. His smile followed her with every step they took inside the underground hangar after arriving to their destination. And Emma couldn't stop smiling back at him while walking there hand in hand, following Storm and Logan who were leading the way along the long corridors.

Storm was telling them about their school for mutant children as the doors of an elevator opened and they reached more homey quarters after their stroll through the steel-wall sections beneath the mansion.

And there, on the other end of a wood-panelled hallway, sat an older, distinctively bald gentleman in a wheelchair, looking like he had been expecting them.

"Charles!" Logan exclaimed with a growing smile and strode ahead to shake hands with an old friend.

A bit more hesitatingly Emma and Loki followed accompanied by Storm who announced happily that she had found the campers Charles had asked her to bring.

Loki was curious about these enhanced mortals but preserved his usual observing approach with them, letting the humans deal with their own affairs.

The lord of the house studied his guests curiously as they approached him, scanning especially Emma.

"Hello, Emma. Welcome to Westchester," the man said in a friendly tone, his voice calm and very pleasant, gazing deep into her eyes like he would have been staring straight into her soul. "I'm Charles Xavier. I assume Logan has mentioned me."

"Hi! Thanks. Yeah, he told that you help… _our kind_," Emma replied, uneasily, glancing at Logan. _Her dad was not dropping her off to a freak school, was he?_

Logan gave her an encouraging nod. "It's alright to trust the old professor," he promised patting the man's shoulder lightly. "He's the big shot around here, looking after all the other mutants."

"I guess you can say that," Charles smiled. "This is a special place, Emma. We all here have _gifts_. There's no need to be afraid. Within these walls you'll be safe."

"Okay," Emma said but she didn't feel like trusting the man. There was something about him and the place that made her getting tense, and she couldn't tell what it was. It was an irritating feeling; the man's voice and the smells around her were somehow vaguely familiar and it was twisting her stomach, her brains working to figure it out. _Should she know him? Had she been in that place before? And how could one man bound to a wheelchair keep SHIELD at bay? He must have friends in high places._

Emma had to concentrate pulling her wandering thoughts together. "Sorry, I didn't realize that you're… um…" She waved her hand discreetly towards his chair.

"So incredibly handsome?" Charles jested, hearing her nervous thoughts and hoping to break the ice.

Emma flashed a small grin. "Yeah. You know what they say about the bald guys," she threw back a witty remark, but would have loved to take it back right away, embarrassed, seeing Charles's smile growing wider. _The baldy got the joke._ She bit her lower lip and looked up at Loki pondering if _he_ got the joke and he gave her only a questioning frown.

"They save a big penny in hair conditioners?" Logan suggested.

"I like her," the professor murmured to Logan, amused, already seeing a certain kinship between Logan and her and yet so much differences.

Logan heaved a sigh. "Better stop it there, Charles. You're too old to flirt with her."

Emma squeezed tighter on Loki's hand and he sensed her nervousness. She would have liked to like this Charles Xavier, but he made her simply nervous, which she found amusingly strange since he was an old crippled man in a wheelchair. "Professor Xavier, this is Loki. He's not a mutant. He's actually a…"

"Yes, I know who you are, Loki of Asgard," Charles said in a curious tone while driving his wheelchair closer, his studying gaze beholding the tall, dark Asgardian. "Ever since you set foot on this planet, my friend, you've been busy making name for yourself."

As if taking it as a compliment Loki smiled coolly, staring down at the old man. "And apparently I have succeeded since my reputation seems to precede me."

"Indeed. You are most welcome, Loki. I do hope you came in peace. Our world needs no more chaos than it already has." Charles added the last part as though it would have been a gentle warning.

"Of course, _my friend_," Loki said bluntly, nearly offended. "And thank you."

Suddenly he narrowed his eyes, his face taking a cautious expression as though the man would have thrown an insulted at his face. Surprised for the need of doing it, he pushed the unexpected trespasser out from his mind, shrouding his psyche and consciousness with a veil of his magic as if he would have cast a heavy mental shield.

"Oh?" Loki sighed curiously then, impressed, a smirk growing on his lips. "There is more than meet the eye in you, Professor. It seems, my dear Emma, that you are not the only one who wishes to see inside my head," he took note in a darker voice, his gaze nailed at the old man, sizing up his opponent.

He held tighter on her hand, including her under his spell of protection. She knew too much of him, things he hadn't shared with anyone else, and he wished to keep all that safe, concealing her mind as well from unwanted visitors.

With a bad feeling Emma watched at him and the professor who looked like they were having a minor mental arm-wrestling. "What do you mean? You're a mind reader now?"

"No. But he is. A telepath, trying to invade my mind," Loki noted ominously.

After scratching merely the surface of the alien mind, Charles Xavier got the glimpses of a complicated calculative mind with high intelligence, cool perception and a whole variety of emotions, all kept strictly under control, except the deity's affectionate feelings towards Emma. He knew he could have break through Loki's mental shields if he would have put his back into it but not without Loki knowing it. _Oh, what a fascinating mind that would have been to explore!_

The old professor gave his guests an apologetic humble smile. "Please forgive me. I meant no offence. My curiosity got the best of me. It is not often we have such fascinating guest whose intelligence surpasses our own. I'm terribly sorry."

That buttering up worked poorly on Loki but he decided to let it go this time, settling for only staring daggers at the old man and valuating his situation cautiously. "All is well. I do not taking it to heart," he said bluntly, pondering how much the old man had already seen.

_And curiosity also killed the cat! If the Gramps on Wheels would go messing with Loki's mind he would get himself killed,_ Emma thought, troubled, sudden anxiety filling her chest. _Had he been inside her head too? That's why she felt so nervous? That's why she felt like she was loosing control of herself?_

She felt her heart pounding faster. It was as if something inside of her would have told her to run, that she was been lured into a trap. Quickly she cleared her thoughts and turned her accusing eyes at her father. "Logan? What the hell is going on here?"

"It's all right! The mind thing is… what he does," Logan explained, seeing from the fierce look in her eyes that she needed to calm down.

"Oh yeah? Well, it looks like to me that you brought us here to see your old buddy to get mind-fucked! Loki doesn't deserve this shit and neither do I!"

"Hey! Language!" Logan grunted lifting his finger at her as a warning.

Storm could only smirk at his fatherly behave but she took a defensive stand next to her mentor. "Professor never abuses his powers. This is a private school and a home for dozens of children. If he checks your mind that is because he has to ensure his guests are here with good intentions. He is responsible for the safety of all our students. I'm sure you understand," she stated firmly but friendly.

Emma managed to give her a sarcastic scowl. "Hey, you brought us here, lady, and we came with the best intentions there is. So, why don't you go to blow, _Storm_!"

"Better check that attitude right now, kid! These are good people here," Logan exclaimed taking a step closer to her.

Loki lifted his hand at Logan to back off and turned at Emma, being protective of her. He could sense she was beyond nervous. He sensed the chance in her and it worried him, even deep down he appreciated her standing by his side against her own kind, finding her loyalty towards him greatly satisfying.

"Emma, it is fine! There is no harm done," he declared hastily, seeing it wiser to curb her temper before she would unleash her more vivid side. "Professor, you wished to shelter your young students? That is fair enough. I understand," he assured politely to their hosts.

Although Loki's magically conjured psychic shield was sheltering her mind, Charles could still sense her restless feelings and he turned to her. "Emma, everything is all right. There's no need to be afraid," he promised calmly.

When seeing the decorative large X spinning on the side of the professor's chair's wheel, it sent a flaming hot flash through Emma like an explosion sweeping over her mind and body. _A violent flashback._ Her body remembered it even her mind quite didn't. The sensation so real that she could feel the crushing pain overwhelming her and she let out a cry.

"Emma, what is wrong?" Loki asked concernedly, running his hands along her arms.

With a strong irrational wave of fear, Emma felt her heart throbbing so fiercely like it was going to burst out of her chest. She was trembling, fighting back her darker side which was getting the control. She felt trapped. She felt like dying.

"Logan, you set me up!" she cried out in a panic-stricken voice, releasing herself from Loki's hold and staggering away from them all backwards. "It's… them…"

The long hallway was shrinking and spinning around her and she feared that she was suffocating, unable to breath even she was gasping for air in panic, stumbling against the wall behind her. In the throes of her turmoil, coldness rushed through her forearms and the ice claws thrust out, splintering the wooden wall panels as she collapsed on her knees on the floor, fearing that whatever it was happening to her it was killing her.

Loki turned from her at the other mutants, anger twisting his face. "Stop it!" he spat at them, directing his order especially to the psychic, all subtlety gone from his behaviour and replaced with a wrath of a trickster god. His growing concern of her was bringing out his darker side too, and he was ready to unleash hell upon any creature who was trying to harm his love one. "Stop whatever you are doing to her or I will slay you where you sit!" he thundered, his gaze fixed at the old man, that dark undertone in his voice chilling the air between them.

"Keep it cool, Loki, or this will end up nasty for you!" Logan was worried for his kid too and found Loki's total change of mood getting his hackles up, wanting to pop out his own claws and finally give some thrashing to the alien boy. That had been a threat and he didn't deal well with threats. "Charles?" he yelped at his old friend, pondering was he doing something to Emma, poking her mind.

Charles Xavier shook his head. "It's not me. I'm not doing anything to her. She's having a panic attack. She needs to calm down," Charles explained watching at her. His observing mind made another discovery and he lifted his eyes at the Asgardian. "Loki, stop blocking her mind and let me help her."

The god of mischief stood tall and menacing before them, blocking their way to her. "No! You stay out of her head!" he warned, pointing his finger at the mind-reader. As though he wouldn't have cared at all what was happening behind him, he just stood there glowering at them.

"That's my daughter, buddy! Get the fuck out of my way or taste my claws!" Logan grunted, just wanting to get there to help her. He tried to shove Loki out of his way but his hand went straight through Loki's chest and so did he, and he had to take a few extra steps to keep his balance after going through the whole Asgardian.

Charles's forehead furrowed in a slight admiration. "An illusion?" he took note and cleared the perfect illusional image, conjured by Loki, with his own mind powers. And thus unveiling the truth and finding the real Loki trying to sooth Emma further away on the hallway.

Right after Emma had dropped on the floor, Loki had moved hastily to her, casting his illusion to keep the others away from her. He was squatting in front of her, his knee on the floor, holding on from her hands and stopping her from hurting herself (and him) with her claws.

Loki glanced at the others warily and shifted his focus back to her again. The last time he saw her like this it was in the Helicarrier after she had fought her way to him. He couldn't understand what had triggered her fear now. This was not her beast-side. It was only anxiety and dread filling her.

"I'm here. Hear my voice and just breathe. Slowly. Slowly," he spoke to her calmly in his soft assuring voice, finally getting through to her as she was relaxing and stopped fighting back. He felt the coldness of her ice claws in his hands while holding hers, easing his grip. A trace of a caring smile greeted her when she lifted her scared eyes at him. "That's it. Everything is going to be all right. Just breathe. I won't let anyone hurt you."

She kept gazing in his beautiful eyes, steadying her breathing and listening to his soothing voice that always worked like magic, calming her down. The anxiety was easing its grip on her, her breathing slowly returning to normal, her heart finding its normal beat and her claws retracted. "I'm sorry," she sighed weakly and pressed her head against his chest still trembling, ashamed and afraid that she had gone mad. "I'm sorry. I don't know what's gotten into me…"

Blurry flashbacks were still scurrying in her head. _Forgotten memories?_ Unclear images, forcing their way to the surface of her memory, but they weren't getting there as if they'd been sealed in ice.

His sheltering arms around her, Loki held her closely, keeping his attention on Logan and the old professor, unsure of their intentions. "Can you stand?" he asked whispering and Emma murmured a faint _'yeah'_. "Just say the word and I will take you away from here," he offered quietly as he helped her on her feet.

Logan knew he will never ever in his life going to like this Loki guy but what he had seen just now might have given Loki another chance. He had to appreciate the alien creep's tender approach with Emma and Loki's way of helping her of getting the grip of herself. He only wanted to know what was it all about; true love or some sort of mind control. _That damn glamour boy had a dark side!_ Logan was certain about it.

With cautious steps Logan moved closer to Emma and Loki, lifting his hands like telling he was coming in peace, and Loki answered that with a guarded scowl, mistrusting him.

"Emma, are you OK?" Logan asked, still concerned, even she seemed to overcome her panic attack.

She only nodded, not looking at him, burying her face in her palms, just wanting to disappear and loathing her earlier behaviour.

"Stay back, Logan! Can you not see she is overwhelmed?" Loki said in a low strained voice as a warning. "This is your safe haven for her? A refuge where she feels less secure than in SHIELD's nest?"

Logan furrowed his brows. "Shut up, Loki! Want me to make you feel overwhelmed?"

Emma took a deep breath through her palms and sighed; "Please… not now." Her voice was weary and barely audible but it made both men dropping their guards and giving up the wrangle. It was good since she didn't have any strength to stop their childish dispute; otherwise they could have freely killed each other. She felt exhausted, having enough to do with keeping herself in one piece.

Logan looked annoyingly at Loki who was hovering around Emma like a shadow on her, but he was talking to her in a relenting tone; "Look, _Ems_, until this morning I didn't even know that I had a kid. But now, when I've got to known you, I wouldn't ever put you at risk," he begun and she turned at him with tired eyes, running her hands over her forehead and through her hair.

_Ems?_ He used that same nickname her mother used to call her with. Somehow it felt safe and comforting.

Logan gave a sideways glance at Charles and Storm who stood further away. "Trust me I know what wrong people can do to our kind. Charles here ain't one of them. He's on our side. He's just like you and me. Charles and Storm are just trying to help us. Do you think you could give them a chance? And, I'll try to give him one," he said compassionately and nodded towards Loki.

"Okay," Emma answered weakly and gave him a hesitating glance. "The things I said… I'm sorry, Logan."

"It's OK."

She didn't want to stay in that place. It was freaking her out, but she felt too tired to argue and she just wanted to crawl on a bed. Loki was there with her. He made her feel safe. As if in a twist of irony, the only person she felt she could truly trusts the most was the master of lies and trickery.

**… …**

The situation was settled down, uneasily, but reached into some sort of understanding. Logan stood in the main hall, hands on his hips, and watched as Storm escorted Emma and Loki upstairs to their rooms while he decided to stay a while to chat with Charles.

Logan's uncertain but tending gaze followed his daughter as she walked up the stairs with Loki, giving him one more checking on -glance before disappearing out of his sight.

"Quite a character this Loki of Asgard," Charles murmured curiously to Logan, they both gazing up where their guests had went.

"Yeah," Logan murmured slightly annoyed, frowning.

"And Emma... I told you it was the right thing to go seeing her in Washington." Charles turned his wheelchair facing Logan. "She is so much like you, Logan," he remarked quietly.

Logan kept staring up at the empty staircase. "Yeah," he sighed, sorry in his voice.

"Even the claws and everything."

"Yeah," Logan murmured even more sorrowfully.

The pondering gaze of the old professor rested on Logan. He had no need to go inside Logan's head to read him. "So… How does it feel to be a father?"

Logan turned at the old man, a frustrated snort escaping him with a clueless shrug. "It's something I was never meant to be," he said self-accusingly.

He heaved a sad sigh, his hand pointing up at the stairs before he continued. "Emma is a good kid. But she has suffered so much only because she's carrying my genes. She has the beast in her… just like me. Bad shit has happened to her because of me. So, if you ask me, I would rather not be a father at all."

"You can't blame yourself for her troubles, Logan," Charles said compassionately and guided his chair towards his study and Logan followed. "It is a good thing you two finally found each other. She is an adult but she still needs your guiding. You can help her to understand her gift."

Logan walked by his side slowly. He got the feeling that professor was being too secretive about the matters concerning Emma. "It's strange you never brought her here. You know? Eight years ago when she would have needed our help," Logan pondered, but it was more of a question really with a slightly accusing tone.

Charles stopped his chair and kept staring ahead. "I did," he answered blankly, but his voice altered, becoming more sympathetic as he carried on, "When Scott and Jean brought her here the first time eight years ago she was a broken little girl known as Emily Morrison. There were two sides of her; the scared, wounded, abandoned child and the unstoppable beast she fought hard to keep under control. She trusted no one. I tried to help her but she let no one near. She let no one touch her. She ran away seven times and we kept bringing her back…" Charles heaved a long sigh. "But the last time I saw it wiser to let her go."

Logan had listened to him in silence, gaping in confusion and rising anger. "W-what?" he swallowed. "I was here eight years ago. Why I knew nothing?"

Charles turned at him. "It was before you returned back to us from your own travels."

Logan looked lost for a moment. "Did you know? Did you know that she was mine?"

"Not at that time. She didn't have the claws back then…"

Logan frowned, studying his old friend in disbelief. "But you figured it out sooner or later. Why didn't you tell me about her? I could have gone after her. I could have helped her back then." There was caged anger in his voice.

"You had no plans. You lived from one day to another, drinking to forget the rest. What could you have offered her? How could you have helped her back then when you were struggling with your own problems? After Jean died. And Scott…"

"I don't know! At least I wouldn't have her cast her out to survive on her own out there. She was alone for eight fucking years!"

The professor looked sorry but didn't like to be criticised about his choices. "I kept watching over her… from the distance," he said touching his left temple with his index finger. "Besides, you two would have ended up killing each other back then."

Logan let out a sarcastic scoff, crossing his arms over his chest. "Oh yeah? You think I was that bad back then?" he asked, offended.

Charles lifted his gaze up at him. "No, but she was," he said frankly and saw the change in Logan's expression. "Imagine yourself on a very bad day. That's what she was. Those people, who kept her caged, did unspeakable cruelty to her with their experiments. They brought out the beast in her and they paid for it dearly. Logan, I tried to help her to control it. I eased her pain and her memories. But restrained she was dangerous to herself and to the others around her. One of our students got severely hurt by her when he caught her off guard one day. A meaningless misunderstanding and the boy almost got killed. And when Scott went intervening into that fight she released her rage on him, they both ending up injured. After that incident I was forced to erase her memory and let her go."

Logan shuddered, taking a sharp breath. "You just let her go?" he echoed, his voice quavering with emotions from anger to disbelief. "What happened to that famous hope of yours?"

"You must understand I couldn't keep her here. Everyone else was afraid of her…"

"It never occurred to you that maybe she was afraid of everyone else?" Logan grunted and walked a small circle on the hallway to ease his own anger, wanting to punch his fist through a wall.

"What would you have wanted me to do? Locked her up? That would have destroyed her completely."

"How about you would have given her one more chance? Not just erase her memory!" Logan roared, a primitive parental instinct suddenly driving him. "You called it a panic attack what just happened? I bet it was triggered by something she remembered. I really hate to say this but I think Loki was right. Stay away from her head, Charles! You're not screwing her mind."

"Logan, please listen to me," Charles begged in a conciliatory tone. "Everything is fine now. You are both here…"

"Don't worry. We won't be here too long endangering your precious school!" Logan promised heatedly and was already walking away from Charles. "We'll leave first thing tomorrow morning! It was a mistake to bring her here."

"Logan!"

_"__Logan, there are things you should know about Loki,"_ Charles's voice echoed inside Logan's mind.

"Stay out of my head, Charles!" Logan's voice grunted through the hallways, reaching the old professor.

**… …**

The room was cosy with warm colours of red chestnut and beige on the walls, furnished with a double bed, full bookshelves, tables, armchairs and a wardrobe as if someone was already occupying it. There was a small fireplace on the opposite wall of the bed, a perfect little place to cuddle by the fire. Emma would have loved the room if she would have paid attention to anything around her. She only noticed the bed and slumped on it, curling up in a ball, not saying a word to their hostess who had brought her and Loki there.

Approvingly Loki checked the room with one quick look and followed Emma, being greatly concerned of her state.

Storm laid a pile of clean clothes on the table for their guests in case they wanted to change into something more comfortable.

"You have your own private bathroom here. And we prepared also another room if you wish to sleep in separate rooms. It's just opposite from this one," Storm said pointing her hand towards the opened door behind her.

Loki gave her a glance, his focus remaining on Emma. "We'll be sharing this one. It will do perfectly fine for both of us. Thank you. I am not leaving by her side tonight," he said conversationally.

He had worked his silver tongue for apologizing his earlier harsh behaviour and regain at least Storm's favour with his lavish politeness.

"I'll go downstairs and make some tea and a light supper for you. The kitchen is on left from the stairs and all the way to the other end of the corridor through the hall," Storm suggested while picking up a couple of towels from the wardrobe and placing them on the table. She watched at Emma who lied still on the bed like she'd been in sleep or then just ignoring her. After her outburst the poor girl had only said _'I'm sorry'_ and went into a shutdown mode. And Storm was pretty sure she didn't get through to her. "Or, I can bring your supper here?" she continued to Loki.

"Oh, if you could, that would be wonderful," Loki said, mildly delighted, his caring side bringing out the best of him. His gazed returned to Emma but then as if remembering something important he turned hastily back at Storm as she was leaving. "I don't suppose you have any hot chocolate, do you?"

Storm smiled curiously. "Sure. I'll bring you some," she said friendly.

Loki bowed lightly. "I am most grateful. Thank you, Ms. Munroe."

Storm left, closing the door and giving them finally some privacy.

With a couple of quiet steps Loki returned to Emma, removing his green cape. "She is gone now. It is just the two of us here… just like we wanted," he said softly, folding his cape over a back of an armchair.

Emma said nothing. She didn't even move, but he knew she could hear him so he continued quietly, "My love, I know it has been an awfully long day. But this was not the way I imagined us spending our last nights together on Earth."

She took a shivering breath, tears escaping under her closed eyelids, and she squeezed herself more tightly.

Clasping his hands together and taking a deep breath, Loki sat on the edge of the bed next to her. He never got used to see her so vulnerable, her state of mind chanced so quickly. She nestled down on the bed like a hurt child, hugging herself for comfort. He desperately wanted to pick her up in his arms and hold her as long as it takes to make that anguish go away. Hesitantly he placed a hand on her shoulder whispering her name.

When she felt the bed sinking behind her and a hand touching her shoulder, it sent an unintentional shiver through her and a small whimper rose from the back of her throat, her body stiffening as if in pain.

With brooding eyes Loki let go of her, pulling his hand away, unwilling to do that but honouring her tiny unspoken gesture, guessing that her fear of touch had returned. "I am sorry," he sighed with a sinking heart.

"Don't," she sobbed, pushing herself sitting and turning towards him while crawling onto his lap like small child or a dog asking for petting. Loki opened his arms for her, welcoming her slightly puzzled as she sat sideways on his lap. As if in a desperate need, she took his hand with trembling hands and pressed the back of his palm against her wet cheek. "Please… Touch me," she whispered begging, brushing her lips over his hand and kissing his knuckles. Her words came heavily as she spoke; "I hate this place. I feel like I've been here before… but I can't be sure. It's bringing back all the old fears." Her pleading eyes locked with his. "I don't ever want to be afraid of your touch again. I'm so sick and tired of being afraid. Please, force my fear away, Loki."

Loki watched at her sadly, his eyes getting moist too. He lifted his other hand and brushed lightly her wild golden locks, tucking them behind her ear. Respectfully, as though touching her the very first time, he returned his delicate fingers on her cheek, gently, slowly caressing her face. She closed her eyes as his hand descended, the back of his fingers running over her jawline and down on the side of her neck. She quivered under his soft touch, his fingers diving through her hair and cupping the back of her neck, his thumb stroking her chin.

"You know my touch, my Valkyrie. You know it won't harm you," he whispered encouragingly, bringing her hand on his face and she opened her eyes again.

His skin was perfect, his chin so smooth even she hadn't seen him shaving a single time they had been together. He kissed her palm and her wrist, letting her hand stay on his cheek as he ran his hand over her arm on her shoulder.

"It was a mistake to come into this place… but I will take you away from here, somewhere safe," he said indulgently, his eyes glimmering with a tender smile, Emma feeling his dimples growing under her palm. He wanted back that fun, playful side of hers, the one which made him laugh.

Like it would have been a divine remedy, she adored his touch that stripped away her anxiety. And she didn't see the change unfolding around her, her focus remaining on him. Not, until his uncertain smile was broadening and the illusion with golden glimmer sprawling all around them, coming to complete.

"If I may, your humble master of illusions presents to you," Loki begun, only his eyes glancing around him as if checking that everything was in order, "a place I have never shown to a woman before; my chambers," he said with sweet humility as though asking for her approval.

Cautiously Emma turned her head to see the spacious majestic room suddenly surrounding them, her mouth opening in pure astonishment by the looks of it. It was heavenly beautiful and amazing like a mix of a luxurious magical palace straight from the Arabian Nights and an imposing gothic cathedral with very high arched ceiling. The floor was made from sand-beige stone. The walls and width supporting columns, decorated with golden ornamental patterns. Large decoratively latticed windows sieved warm light into the room through long light curtains. And two massive doors on the other side of the room looked like they were made for giants to enter.

Gasping she turned her head on the other way and noticed one wall covered with full bookshelves towering nearly all the way up to the high ceiling. Golden floor-standing candleholders, taller than she, stood here and there next to the walls. And the kind-size canopy bed where they were sitting on was like a piece of art itself with massive dark wooden headboard, carved beautifully with strange runes like markings, ornamental figures, trees and flowers. It had long wooden posters on each corner and green long curtains draping down on both sides with lighter golden ones. And making it look like a frosted jewel, the bed was covered with emerald-green velvet cover with matching pillows in the colors of green and gold.

With all its glorious splendor the room looked like a home of a god or an angel. And Emma sat there with him in the middle of it, speechless, finally turning towards him and meeting his sweetly curious gaze. She looked at him, in silence and long, like he'd been the most beautiful thing she had ever seen, touching his face again. He had shared his world with her the way on one else could ever do.

Loki smiled to her, stroking her hair. "Well?" he whispered, his dark brows rising. "What do you think?"

"It's… It's… There are no words," Emma said, rapt. "It's out of this world, more beautiful that I imagined," she whispered caressing his cheek. _"Home of my beautiful god."_

He allowed himself a moment to bask in her sweetly naive words and under the gaze of those sky-blue eyes that worshiped him like no other before. _How come no one else had ever seen him like that?_

"May I take you there one day?"

"To the real Asgard? Across the space?"

"Yes. Will you let me show you my home once I returned to you?"

When he asked it like that she had no need to think it any further. "That would be great. I would love to see it for real," she said without hesitation. One more wondering glance around her and a small grin spread on her face, lighting her eyes with joy and love. She bit her lower lip, revealing a kittenish smile and leaned closer to him. "So… where do you keep all of your nude valkyrie-girl pictures?"

Loki grinned, his dimples only growing deeper, loving her sense of humor that had returned. "Oh, I have a few books full of those… quite a considerable collection, really," he jested nodding towards his massive bookshelves and waggled his eyebrows.

With that Emma broke into big smile, wanting to kiss him, since he had expelled her demons once again.

Short and surprising knocking came from the door, and before neither of them had made another move, the door was open and Logan stepped in like walking into his own room, still worked-up after his talk with Charles. He was sorry, though. He had never meant to be rude to Charles. They had seen through a lot together and it had been unfair of him to accuse the professor.

"Sorry, I…" Logan stopped talking and moving as he faced the breathtakingly sight all around him. His puzzled gaze located Emma and Loki, finding them sitting on the bed. "Damn! Your room is much nicer than mine."

Loki rolled his eyes, his jaw clenching, thinking that the man had to be stalking them and waiting a perfect time to come rushing in to interrupt them. The illusion around them was slowly fading, the reality running down like wet paint bringing back the real room.

At first in a surprise Emma watched at him over her shoulder, crawling off Loki's lap awkwardly, but then a smile conquering her face. She cracked up, laughing aloud hysterical tired laugh. _Her father had not clue!_ And his expression had been priceless while walking into Loki's illusion. _A much nicer room!_ _If Loki had never brought a girl into his room in Asgard before then she bet he'd never gotten a girl's grumpy dad there either._

The laugh just kept going and she was holding on her stomach, laughing for the sound of her own laugh that suddenly sounded pretty hilarious. "Sorry," she managed to say when she tried to gather herself, but only one glance at Loki or Logan, and she burst out giggling anew. She hadn't laughed so much in a long time, all the stress finally gone.

Logan lifted an eyebrow. "Was I disturbing something?"

"Yes!" Loki announced blankly.

"Good."

Loki got off from the bed, casting an annoyed look at the intruder and getting one in return. But his expression returned softer, watching at Emma and hearing her laughter. He loved her laugh and he loved that she was laughing again.

"What do you want now, Logan?" Loki asked then.

Logan glanced once more around him at the more ordinary decoration of the room. "I just came to check that she's alright," he replied. "Is she?"

Loki snorted. "What does is look like to you?"

"She looks like she's high on something. What the hell did you give her?"

Emma took a deep breath, getting a grip of herself and sat on the edge of the bed facing the men. "Logan, I… am feeling better but it's not thanks to your friends here," she said and got up on her feet too, traces of smile fading away.

Logan looked sorry. "Sorry. I shouldn't have brought you here."

"Finally something we all agree on," Loki remarked dryly.

"Get lost, Ali Baba! Don't you have your own room right over there?"

"After what happened downstairs, I will not leave by her side here," Loki assured in a judging tone.

"Before you even get started again, Logan, I'm not going to stay in this damn house alone over night. Without Loki I wouldn't stay here another minute!" Emma stated firmly but with more timid gestures, her earlier panic attack still burdening her.

There was hesitation and remorse in Logan's dark eyes. _What if he would tell her that she'd been there eight years ago and that Charles had erased her memories? Would she ever trust him again?_ "Don't worry. I'll get you out of here. We'll leave first thing tomorrow if that's all right with you."

"Good. This place is freaking me out. I feel like I've been here, like that psychic-friend of yours would have been inside of my head. It's sick and creepy. It's like glimpses of a nightmare you just can't remember."

"Sometimes it better forget," Logan said and realized he had already said too much. He lowered his gaze, heaving a sad sigh, before her confused and questioning gaze pierced his soul, seeking for more answers. "I mean, I've got a lot of memories of this place and people. People I cared about. Some of them gone." He swallowed and looked at her again the way only one who had already lost too much would look at someone that still mattered. "Bad things happens to people I care about. But I won't ever let that happen to you. I promise."

Emma sensed the pain behind those words and dropped her guard. "I believe you."

Logan cleared his throat. "It's good to see that you're feeling better. You got me seriously worried back there."

Emma closed her eyes, still mortified, and trying to find a way to apologize her behavior. "By now you probably think that I'm a total wacko. I am really sorry. That wasn't the best possible way to give the first impression to your friends."

Logan smiled a bit to a distant memory. "Don't worry about that. You should have seen my first day here. We should all get some rest now. It's a big day tomorrow. If we're any lucky we'll get rid of him," he said nodding at Loki.

Emma nearly rolled her eyes, touching her trickster god's arm. "If I'm any lucky he will return to me," she said lovingly.

"You know I will," Loki smiled back at her.

Getting the strong vibes that he was being the third wheel, Logan took a few steps backwards, relenting. "OK. My room is on right on the other end of the hallway in case you need anything. Just shout. I'll see you in the morning."

"Okay." Emma followed him at the door. "Logan, thank you for everything you've done for me. And, I'm sorry for dragging you into this mess."

Logan gave her a lopsided smile. "Believe me I've been in worse."

Emma felt that she should have said something more. That was her father after all. She should have hugged him. She realized she hadn't yet even hugged him, but the thought of it somehow felt inappropriate, uncomfortable. So she settled giving him a smile. "Do you happen to have any tin-foil hats in your room? In case we need wearing them around here."

Logan grinned to that, standing in the doorway. "Don't worry about Charles. He won't go poking your mind here." Logan glanced at Loki who stood further in a waiting mode. He couldn't deny it; Emma and Loki seemed pretty certain about each other. With a given up expression, he shoved his hand in his jackets pocket, then in his jackets inner pocket, checking both of the inner pockets, and finally finding what he had been searching for.

"Here," he murmured awkwardly, taking Emma's hand and placing his findings on her palm and closing it. "I stress that I'm not encouraging you to do _anything_. It's just," he glanced at Loki again under his brows and gritted his jaws, "just in case. You know?"

Puzzled Emma opened her palm and immediate rush of embarrassment washed over her, her face turning red. "Um…?" she swallowed, staring at the three condoms on her hand and lifting her nearly scared eyes back at Logan. "W-why…?"

"He's a guy, isn't he?"

"Well, yeah."

"Shit! This was a bad idea. Give them back!"

"No!" The corner of her mouth started twitching. She didn't want to sound too eager to keep them. _Were dads like that even real?_ "Um. This is awkward. And a bit weird. But, thanks. You're sure you won't need these with Storm?"

"She and I. We're just friends."

"Right. Good night, Logan," she said and stepped closer, wanting to give that hug, but she froze, unable to do it. She wasn't there yet in the emotional level to get that close. To her a hug meant more than just a hug.

When watching at them, on the moment she settled for only patting her father's arm, Loki knew she wouldn't touch another man while he was gone. A part of him felt guilty for finding satisfaction in her fear of closeness which was to guarantee her faithfulness to him. His expression filled with pity and he brought his hands together in a sort of uncertainty, his gaze dropping down.

"Good night, Goldie Locks. Loki," Logan said and stepped out.

"Good night, Logan," Loki answered, surprised to be noticed.

Emma smiled and glanced down at his gift, turning then back at Logan who walked along the corridor. "Hey, Logan! Did you know these expired the year before I was born?"

Logan gave her a _what-the-fuck_ frown. "What?" he yelped, nearly alarmed. Then he met her slightly mischievous grin. "Oh, Jesus!" he grunted but broke into a roguish smile after getting the joke, shaking his head amused and walking away. "Keep it down there, will you? There are kids sleeping around here."

Emma shut the door and leaned her back against it as Loki moved closer to her.

"What was that all about?" Loki asked curiously when she couldn't stop smiling sheepishly.

"I think Logan just gave you his approval, and to us," she answered, looking up into his eyes and shyly shoving the condoms into her pocket.

Loki looked surprised with a frown. "Really? I must have missed it."

"Oh, he made a very clear statement."

"Then this night is ours."

Emma swallowed, a flame of desire lighting up inside of her under his emerald gaze as he came even closer, lifting his right hand and leaning it against the door and locking it with another, trapping her between his strong arms. It was _oh so familiar_ gesture telling her that she belonged only to him, his every subtle move oozing seduction and slight possessiveness. And she couldn't deny it but she loved it. She loved when he took the control.

"You know… I would love to take a shower," she said whispering as he leaned onto her and hunched down for a kiss.

He let out a soft _hm,_ his gaze locked with hers. "I better come with you…. to keep you feeling secure in this strange place," he suggested, dropping his soft words straight on her anticipating lips.

"Yeah, you should. I feel so very insecure right now," she sighed, giving into the kiss, his mouth claiming hers, driving away the rest of her fears.


	30. 30 Seeking 'Valhalla'

_Thank you so much for your reviews. I'm so glad if you find this story entertaining. I'm giggling like an idiot here thanks to your lovely feedback and hope that I can keep up with the story in the same level. _

**_Tarun_**_ – __Thank you. Yeah, Coulson is a great character. I loved that episode in the Ultimate Spiderman when Coulson was dating Peter Parker's aunt. I kept thinking hard should Emma have claws or not, but then I figured that of course; because she is Logan's daughter. The trick is that her body adapts to things, so the first set of those tiny claws she was born with were pretty useless and never showed up, but the ice was indeed due to Loki's influence._

_Emma and Loki have been on the run and it's time to take a breath. Or hold it? So, a word of a warning; this chapter includes sex._

**… …**

Sitting on the edge of the bed and drying her shower-wet hair with a towel, Emma contemplated the god of mischief in appreciating silence, all her troubling thoughts leaving her. She let her eyes rest on his strong, pale, sculpture-like body as he sauntered from the bathroom to her, wrapping a blue towel around his waist.

The shower enclosure had been so small that they had barely fit in there together. There had been nothing wrong of being so close but it had begun to feel too crowded to actually have a wash, so they had taken wash in turns.

She couldn't get enough of the sight of him; his arms, his slender but muscular torso and the assertive way he carried himself like he would have owned the world. His every move looked graceful for a tall, broad-shouldered guy; even when he swept his wet, jet-black hair back with both hands, giving her a bit more to see while revealing his whole upper body. A few droplet of water from his hair ran over his chest and she followed those little drops running over his visible six-back and reaching down to his towel, she letting out a dreaming sigh.

The mischievously charming dimples conquered Loki's face as he noticed the way she was watching at him; she was devouring him with her bright blue eyes in a shy kind of manner, her head tilted to the side. And he liked to watch her watching him like that. He was more than pleased that she felt better again.

She lifted her gaze up at his eyes, smiling cautiously and securing her towel around her chest while getting up. He moved closer, their hands coming together, and it felt good and safe.

It was apparent that their hosts and the accommodation still bothered her. She had been sweetly concerned about him, double-checking with him that it was all right to stay there. Loki couldn't deny it; the place bothered him too (the old professor who could read minds and Emma's father sleeping right on the other end of the corridor). But it was the best choice they had and he wanted to do everything to make the rest of the night special for her and continue where they had left off in the shower. The idea of returning to Asgard also haunted him but he didn't let any of those thoughts consume him now. This moment together was far more important.

They stared at each other, their fingers interlocking, both having a pretty good hunch where this night was leading them.

"So," Emma begun with an innocent tease, "what do you think we should be doing now?"

Loki took a deep breath, drinking the sight of her, the memory of their first night in bed together arousing his lust and bringing a smile on his lips.

"As I recall, you wanted to dance with me. How about that dance now?" he suggested in a tempting voice.

Emma checked her surroundings, looking for a stereo or any kind of music player. "We have no music."

"Then sing for me."

She grinned with a surprised look. "Ah, trust me, you don't want to hear me singing."

Loki nodded eagerly. "But I do. And I want to dance with you in that slow, romantic Midgardian way you told me about. Show me how," he encouraged her, pulling her further away from the bed.

"Okay," she smiled, accepting the challenge and loving that he was willing to fulfil her wish.

But really, only songs that she could recall were something like the hits from Eminem, LMFAO and Bloodhound Gang and some of those old hymns she had sang in the church's children's choir where her grandmother had forced her to go when she was a kid.

She laughed a bit trying to remember at least one love song's lyrics and guided his both hands on her waist and lifted her owns on his shoulders. "I must warn you I'm not much of a dance either, so let's keep this simple," she said, leaning in, their bodies touching only the towels between their skins. "You lead. Tiny steps and small sways, from side to side in the rhythm. You are free to improvise. The basic is to let your feet and hips do the work," she explained, rocking her hips slowly from left to right showing him the way.

He was already starting to like it, feeling her hips moving between his hands. The closeness was something new in a dance for him. It almost felt forbidden. "And the rhythm?" he asked with a small tease, wanting to hear her singing.

"Don't tell me I didn't warn you. I haven't sung to another living being in a long time," Emma grinned, but her expression turned somehow vulnerable as she kept looking up into his eyes, clearing her throat and letting out a lilting hum.

She felt his hands around her waist, holding on tightly, her arms resting over his bare chest, her fingers caressing his wet shoulders. He was waiting, and by the God he looked so good, like… well, like a god.

Without forcing, the words just started to come out of her mouth and she sang in a soft melody. Her voice was quiet in the first lines of the song "I don't wanna miss a thing" from Aerosmith. It felt perfect, the lyrics of the song like meant for that moment. And she sang it in a very slow melody like it would have been a gentle lullaby for a baby, her voice at first quivering but a little by little gathering strength when finding approval in his eyes. She was not there to impress Simon Cowell; she sang it in her own way.

Loki listened to her suddenly so compelled and surprised by her beautiful, vibrant singing voice. It was something he hadn't expected, melting away his mischievousness. It sounded nothing like the traditional Asgardian songs he had used to hear and hate. Only the old lullabies sang by Frigga when he was a child could match the tenderness of it, but this was not a song for a child. This was a song of more passionate love. With every line, every praising word he heard made him feel like she was singing straight from her heart only to him, adoring him in the sweetest way, making love to him with her voice. He had forgotten to move and he smiled as he started to dance her in her rhythm. And she followed, her movement matching his, the smile in her eyes living with the emotions brought by the words of the song.

She hadn't ever been a fan of love songs but on that very moment she discovered the true magic that a simple love song held; binding two souls together for a small moment in the infinity, speaking on her behalf for all she needed to say.

Lifting his hand on her back and holding on to her more tightly, they were slowly beginning to rotate in a small circle, dancing and forgetting the rest of the world. She meant every word she sang to him, wishing that their time together would never end.

Her voice was fading towards the end of the song for feeling so moved by the closeness they shared and the lyrics that had a whole new meaning to her now. The last words escaped with a soft breath as his hands were stroking her back, his right hand coming up along her spine and cupping the back of her head, making her weak under his gaze and dying to feel his lips against hers again. She didn't even notice that they had stopped dancing.

Speechless, he studied her in a new kind of delight, his smile caressing her. "Beautiful," he sighed, amazed, lowering his face towards hers. "You truly are full of surprises. I had no idea you could sing like that."

She had never considered herself as a good singer and she felt greatly touched by his compliment. She should remember to say a thanks and a prayer for her grandmother for dragging her to those boring singing lessons.

She rose on her tiptoes to meet him in the half-way and he pulled her closer, locking his arms around her, his hot breath on her skin intoxicating her before his mouth seized her lips into a fervent kiss. The taste of his mouth raised her hunger for him, her fingers diving into his wet long hair. He felt so good and she wanted more. He read her needy signs and she felt her toes leaving the floor as he carried her, guiding her legs around his thighs and moving to the bed.

He crawled on the middle of the bed holding her, she clinging onto him beneath him. Placing her down, he laid on top of her, leaning onto his arms to support his weight and not to crush her, kissing her with long, mouth exploring kisses, his tongue hunting hers as if I would have been a little game.

Emma gasped for air as his mouth moved to her chin, kissing and sucking her neck, leaving a trail of moisture on her burning skin, but his love bites faded in a heartbeat. She was breathing heavily with moans of desire as he caressed her, breathing in his scent, feeling his body big and strong and hard on her. And it was happening again, she realized. She would have him inside of her again and she knew it was going to hurt like hell but she wanted it so bad, her insides tensing with the need, making her growing wet. Her hands travelled along his back, up to his shoulders and back down again. She buried her face on his hair as his kisses headed on her collarbone.

His right arm rose from the bed to his side and he made a move in the air like a toss and Emma noticed something blue flying on the floor._ There goes her towel_, she realized, finding herself completely naked under him, feeling his chest radiating heat against her bare breasts, her towel been stripped off with his magic. His skin felt amazing against hers and she wanted to relish every inch of him, her hands travelling on his perfect frame.

With hungry eyes he stared down at her and pressed his pelvis against hers harder, rubbing it between her parted legs, letting her know what she was doing to him, only his towel keeping that big bulging beast of his from getting her.

"Tell me again how much you want me, my Valkyrie," he said in his dark husky tone, nibbling her lips teasingly, not letting her capture his lips to a kiss.

She was trembling all over, her teeth clattering in anticipation and slight fear, her hands coming on his arms and her nose rubbing against his. "Loki, I want you so much that it frightens me," she admitted whispering feverishly. "I want to make love to you, but you're…" She swallowed feeling like an idiot for saying it aloud. "You're so big, and I've healed. I know it's going to hurt again."

A satisfied, playful smirk pulled the corners of his opened mouth upwards, her shy words being like fuel to his flaming lust. She practically was still as good as a virgin, her body been healed from their earlier play. "No fears now, my love. Rest in my embrace and let me be good to you, so that once I will fill your little quim you will beg me to never stop," he murmured in a low tone, seeing her eyes widening. He kissed her mouth, giving her no time to object.

_That must have been the most obscene thing ever passed his lips_, he realized, still finding himself as a far better lover than that fool Fandral could ever hope to be.

Even though Emma was unfamiliar with the word he'd used, she had a pretty good hunch what he meant by it and she could only give into the kiss and wait what he had in store for her. His mouth left hers and his lips brushed over her cheek, down along her neck, imprinting kisses on his way, and she felt the bed sinking under her as he moved lower, on her breasts, licking and sucking the hardened nipples which were like little cherries on top of cupcakes. He gave equal attention for both of them, loving the arousing moans she rewarded him with.

Her legs wrapped dominatingly around his waist but he freed himself from her grip and headed lower over her belly, his hands following the curves of her sides. Her hands were in his hair and she stopped messing with his black curls and her body came to still as his teasing mouth reached her mound with plans to go further down. Loki stopped too and lifted his curious eyes, meeting her timid, nearly scared gaze. He smiled as though something wicked had just entered his mind, his hands coming down around her thighs and spreading her more.

"Don't…" she whispered, holding her breath, her hand coming down from his head to protect the remains of her modesty, being otherwise completely exposed to him, his face only inches away from her most tender parts.

Loki's lips brushed over the back of her palm, the rascally grin broadening. "Why not?"

Emma smiled uneasily, her cheeks crimsoned with the mere fantasy of it. "Cause it would be disgusting… for you."

"Let me be the judge of that," he insisted in a soft low voice, taking her hand and kissing her palm. "Indulge me."

His dark voice made her freeze but her insides purring like a bee nest oozing honey. Before she had said another word his left hand reached for a pillow next to her head. Easily as it would have been a practised move, he lifted her lower body and tucked the pillow under her butt, having her within easy reach. She gasped when he took her hands and pinned them gently against the sheets next to her hips, lowering himself back where she had interrupted him, moving backwards on his knees, crouching between her thighs lithe like a panther, his shoulders width above her.

Slightly disobedient but definitely mischievous smile lingered on his emerald eyes as he licked the inner side of her thigh, his gaze locked with hers and compelled to see her feverish reactions. After all, she was the one who pleased him with her mouth the last time they were in bed together. It was his time to return the favour. And when she refused to offer it to him willingly, it made him wanting it even more like a sweet forbidden fruit.

She was holding her breath when he tasted her, trembling in his hold and closing her eyes, sinking her head back in the pillow with a long surrendering groan, her toes curling. He tasted her anew, liking the taste of her sweet dew. He continued to tease her and she was his helpless victim, his tongue strong and demanding. And when she was moaning and humming in pleasure, she was singing a new song for him that excited him beyond imagination.

_By all Infinity, she had evidently made him go completely mad!_ Loki reasoned to himself while enjoying too much of the process of pleasing her. To redeem himself, to earn his worth; this had to hold some sort of value in a bigger scale, he grinned, recalling Frigga's words: _'Make your father proud!'_

_Well, Odin wouldn't get any prouder than this, if seeing him kneeling between spread legs, his tongue inside of a mortal woman._

"Oh God! Loki!" Emma cried out, her thighs tightening around him, bringing his focus back on her again.

He could feel that she was almost there, knocking on the gates of Valhalla when his tongue left her in peace, too early, leaving her yearning more, her hips wiggling a bit like she would have been dancing on the sheets. He freed her from his hold and moved a bit backwards, watching her small body craving him and licking her taste from his lips.

"What the f…?" she groaned in disbelief, her blue eyes shooting open and flaring at him for leaving her unfinished so cruelly.

Her short lived fury was followed by a tingling sensation of awe as she kept staring at him standing on his knees between hers; the towel around his waist unable hide his erection and it looked like it was accusingly pointing towards her for being guilty for causing it. With his charming, sexy grin and somewhat grand gestures he unwrapped his towel and tossed it off. And her gaze dropped down facing the beast that was now unleashed, seeing him in his full glory. She could swear that it looked even bigger than she recalled, falling speechless and suddenly wanting to slip away from him.

She expected the god of mischief to say something imposing, anything at all, but neither said a word as he crawled back to her, pulling the pillow away under her arse, laying his weight partly on her while lying right next to her. He held her more possessively and closed his mouth over hers in a deep, deep kiss, giving her a small taste of her own nectar. And to her surprise it wasn't so bad she had expected it to be.

His manhood pressed against the side of her belly, demanding her attention, and she touched it, running her little fingers along the hard shaft, finding the skin so delicate around it.

Loki seized her hand away from him and lifted it above her head, locking her wrist with another hand of his that went above her head. Then his right hand ran down on her arm, over her breast and belly, finding its way right there where his tongue had visited. He wasn't finished with her yet. He drew away from her lips just to see her eyes when he thrust his middle finger slowly inside of her. Pulled it back, and repeated, seeking for the right rhythm.

She whimpered and opened up for him, wanting it, wanting him more and more with every stroke he made. And soon she was squirming and breathing heavily, fighting against an inevitable climax she was heading towards again, and she only wanted to get there with him.

She moaned and bit her lower lip to control herself. "Loki, please make love to me," she sighed, feeling she was so ready for him.

"Soon," he murmured back to her, carrying on his gentle game.

She cursed inwardly and tried effortlessly free her hand from his grip, her other arm being trapped between his head and shoulder. "Please, take me. I want you inside of me. Please, please, now!"

Wanting nothing more than that the trickster god smiled to her, drinking the sight of her ecstasy, pulling his finger nearly out, his own swelling already becoming unbearable to keep. He watched into her eyes facing her hungry beast as she spoke to him in husky, demanding voice;

"Yes. Now, take me!"

_No effect!_ _Only another wicked smile_.

She groaned raising the stakes to make him understand how much she wanted him. "Damn it, Loki. Take me! Fuck me with that beautiful big cock of yours!"

A low grunt escaped from the depths of his throat, his member willing to obey her and subject to her will, but he fought hard to restrain himself a bit longer. "Oh no," he murmured scolding, shaking his head. "That is not a proper language for my queen. You are not ready yet," he declared and continued his tease on her. He wouldn't allow her to feel pain tonight. "And you better be quiet, you vile little thing. You are waking up the whole house. And I swear I will kill anyone who crosses that threshold tonight."

A suffocated cry of pleasure passed her lips as she felt his fingers diving deeper into her again, two this time. She cursed inwardly again and arched her back as another thrust came and swept away her sanity in its wake, filling her with exploding pleasure. His touch, his voice, his threats, all of him made her surrender to him.

Feeling her tight love muscles clenching around his fingers, he knew he wouldn't have lasted there long enough. He freed her hands, feasting his eyes on the results of his excellent job, giving her only a small moment to recover before he moved on top of her, his cooler chest meeting her burning hot breasts and his majestic hardness settling in against her swollen, dripping-wet entrance, ready for the invasion.

"Now you are ready for your king," he grunted, pleased, breathing in the hot air she exhaled right under him. "Look at me, my love!"

Emma stared up at his eyes, catching her breath, a bit annoyed but utterly satisfied. A new fire was building inside of her as she felt his strong body against hers. She licked moisture to her dry lips, her hands find their way on his back along his arms and she clutched onto him like onto a racehorse. "Have I told you lately… that you're such a prick? But I love you."

A small smile only visited his lips and his face clouded with the aching need. "Then show me how much you love me and keep your eyes on me."

"Condoms! In my jumpsuit's pocket!"

Loki flipped his hand, snapping his fingers and showed her a tore-open condom wrapper. "Already there," he assured with a heated voice as his hips were already moving.

"Oh…?"

She let out a groan when he begun to thrust inside of her, her gaze nailed at his, seeing the whole infinity in his emerald eyes. And as if it would have been the measure of her love for him, she kept gazing at his eyes through every inch as he filled her slowly. She wrapped her legs around his waist, letting him go all the way to the hilt, the final most painful inch stretching her small channel for him. Oh, it hurt, but not so much as she had feared. He had readied her better this time, her muscles more relaxed after the orgasm.

There he remained a while, not moving a muscle, letting her adjust to him and meeting her tiny victorious smile for having him where she had wanted. She felt heavenly good against him, her little quim oh, so hot, wet and tight around him, making him feel like he was indulging himself with the most divine treat in the universe.

"Say that you are mine!" he whispered in a husky, demanding tone.

It felt like his darker side and yet she obeyed blindly. "I'm yours… my king," she replied sighing like it was an erotic game, seeing those words lighting fire in his eyes.

"Say that you belong to me!"

"I belong only to you," she whispered, rocking herself slowly against him.

_Oh, for heaven's sake, she was killing him! She was making him as weak as a mortal._

His breathing was quivering, his mouth was quivering after her words that nearly free his inner demons and he had to brace himself once more for not to release right there.

_Hurry, think unpleasant things; a drooling bilgesnipe, a jotun brute, Thor on the throne, Volstagg eating. Oh, way too much! But it was working,_ he grinned at his idiotic thoughts but ready to carry on.

His focus back on her again, he withdrew from her almost completely and thrust back in a bit more forcefully, enjoying her tightness as she welcomed him gladly with an approving moan. A part of him wanted to go on gently with her, cradling her with love, another part wanted to ram her endlessly, making her screaming his name so hard that the Gatekeeper of Asgard would hear her even when their presence was concealed from all.

He kissed her and she loved every inch of him; his taste, his scent, his weight on top of her, his hands that were all over her, the way he filled her completely and more. And his hips as he begun moving them, rocking against her, thrusting into her again and again with long gentle thrusts, unrelenting like ebb and flow, the friction of their flesh becoming deliciously unbearable.

_Mine! Only mine!_ The words played in his mind and he couldn't be sure if those also passed his lips as he was picking up the pace, quickening towards the fulfilment. _Oh, but it was still too soon!_ He wanted to make it last a bit longer, so he swept her up in his arms and without leaving her flipped them other way around with one move, settling on his back and letting her take the reins. And he loved the view, having more of her to look at as she continued to help herself with him, rocking her hips and stretching her back in the seek of the right spot.

Her wild curls were tangled, her smooth lips parted and her lovely eyes nearly closed as she carried on, tiny beads of sweat glistering on her body. She looked so beautiful, so young, so untamed and her moves becoming so powerful that he couldn't last any longer. He wanted her to come along with him. He demanded her to follow him, his hands holding tighter around her hips, pulling her so hard against him that it hurt like he would have been trying to impale her, his fingers squeezing her butt. She cried out in the flaming sensation that spread all over her body, feeling him throbbing fiercely inside of her, his powerful release forcing her to follow. And her body ached and rejoiced with his, finally reaching the bliss of Valhalla.

**... ...**

A bit later she had no strength left as she rested wearily on top of him, her head against his breast, feeling his chest heaving up and down beneath her, his arm safely around her. She just lay there between the sheets with him, serene and sated, without a care in the world. And it was true; she could have lain there awake just to listen to his breathing and heartbeats, those being the only sounds she ever needed to hear. If the world would have come to an end on that very moment, she would have died happy and loved.

Loki was lying under her in pondering silence, his right hand tucked behind his head, the left one caressing her back, his fingers drawing tiny circles around her spine. He caught himself being millions miles away again and he dragged himself back on this planet once more, loving the warmth she was radiating against his naked body.

"Are you asleep?" he asked with a soft whisper, his gaze dropping down from the ceiling to her.

Emma heaved a deep sigh, holding him. "I must be. And this is the best dream I've had. I don't want to wake up, ever," she said turning her head to face him.

He looked at her with a loving smile, his hand stroking her hair. A soft, agreeing murmur rose from his throat. "When we are together like this I part to me wishes that tomorrow never comes," he said, smiling a bit sadly to his own childish thoughts. Somehow it felt like she was the only one who allowed him to feel these feelings, not judging him for showing all his emotions. And yet he failed to understand the whole scale of sentimentality she brought out of him.

There was so much to say, but neither of them wanted to think too much about tomorrow.

"What does the other part of you wishes then?" Emma asked.

"Oh, it wishes to make love to you endlessly."

"Hmm, most parts of me would like that."

Loki chuckled softly, they both being still in a bit of a gaming mood. "Such an insatiable nymph you are, my precious…" He spoke whispering but stopped when he saw a tiny awkward grin creeping on her lips. "What?"

She pressing a kiss on his chest and moved lying next to him but couldn't stop grinning. "Please, don't call me a precious like that."

His forehead furrowed in confusion and his other hand came down holding her too as she nested beside him, their heads on the same pillow. "And why not?"

"My precious…" she hissed like Gollum and Loki lifted an eyebrow. "Um. Obviously you have never seen Lord of the Rings."

"A friend of yours?"

"No. It was a movie. Like an entertaining show in a theatre; ogres, elves and dwarves. There was this little nasty creature who talked to his precious ring… I'm sorry, I'm blabbering again."

"Yes you are but I like that. You do make me happy. Indescribably happy," he admitted, lifting his hand on her face and looking into her eyes.

She grinned, she just couldn't help herself. He brought out her naughty side. "Yeah, you didn't have to say a word. I kind of figured it out before you took off your towel," she teased in a sexy voice.

His nose wrinkled and thin lips pursed as he was trying to control his grin. "That is what you do to me. And if you are not going to stop there then I warn you; we will be having a rematch between the sheets. But I am being serious. You make me feel more complete, more worthy."

She brushed her fingers over his cheek and played with the curls of his hair, loving his slightly tousled look, loving his sweet words. "I feel the same with you. No matter where we are I feel safe when I'm with you. Could you just hold me and tell me your stories again? I love to listen to you."

He wrapped his arm around her and held her close. "All right. I will sing you a tale of the valour of the Valkyries of Asgard." He smiled at her curious expression. "Don't worry, I am not going to actually sing. It is more of a poem."

And so he began telling her a long story of the Valkyries, reciting it like a poem and caressing her with his soft angelic voice. As his story was unfolding little by little, she was beginning to understand that the pet name he had given to her held a very special meaning to him and she accepted it with a new kind of appreciation.

**… …**

_"__Loki!"_

The voice was like a silent echo inside his head but it woke the god of mischief from his light slumber state with a start. His eyes flashed open and he sat up with a jolt, summoning a throwing knife and slinging it at once towards the unexpected intruder whom he saw standing in the middle of their dim room. Another knife was already on his palm, ready for the throw, before the first one had hit the wall behind the standing figure. Those were his last weapons returned to him by Thor during their campfire moment.

Squeezing the knife's handle, he heard the first throwing knife making a blunt sound while hitting the wall. One quick glance and he found Emma sleeping next to him completely soundless, then he recognized the man who was still standing in the room. _Standing?_ He was sure he had hit him with his knife.

The room was illuminated and Charles Xavier took a step closer to the bed where Loki was now sitting armed and staring at him confused.

"How…?" Loki began, stupefied. He pulled the cover over Emma's bare shoulder to make her look more decent.

"My friend, you are not the only one on this planet who can create illusions," the professor said calmly, speaking to the trickster god with a telepathic projection of himself. "I'm sorry if I woke you. But I wished to speak with you privately."

Loki let out a confused breath, conjuring his knife away, unpleased of this questionable visit in the middle of the night. And he was annoyed that he had fallen for his own trick.

"Professor?" he grunted, shielding himself with his spells again. He would have preferred standing up but he was in his birthday-suit under the cover. "I am sorry, but isn't this a bit odd time for coming to have a chat?"

"Perhaps, but when there is a lot in my mind I find it hard to sleep."

Loki turned at Emma again. She looked like she was sleeping, her hand resting over his waist, but she hardly breathe, making no sound at all. He was surprised she hadn't woken up by his sudden movement or their talk. "Emma?" Loki whispered, getting concerned, touching her.

"She's all right. I froze her mind so that she wouldn't be disturbed by our talk," Charles announced calmly, casting a glance at her.

Loki shot a glowering look at the professor. "You what?" he barked. "Release her mind or I will come down…"

"Yes! I was hoping you would come to downstairs and meet me in my study so we could talk face to face," Charles interrupted his guest. "I know what you are after, Loki. And SHIELD is trying to keep that away from you. Now, in a normal case I wouldn't go against director Fury, but I believe that the Tesseract is more than mankind can handle. I just might be able to help you to find it, if…" He paused and smiled a bit at the curiosity that filled Loki's eyes. "If you are able to prove your worth."

Loki snorted. "Prove my worth?" he pouted a bit, offended. "To you? To Logan?"

Charles looked very confident. "To yourself," he said simply. "This is not a game, Loki. This is about trust, if the master of lies is able to understand the concept. No tricks. If you are up to it, I will be waiting."

And with that the professor's projection vanished, the room turned dim, and Loki heard Emma heaving a breath in her sleep. He watched at her a while, pondering about the professor's offer. The old man was practically handing him the Tesseract but it couldn't be as simple as that. _To prove his worth?_ He hated the whole idea but it made him awfully curious.

He made sure Emma was comfortably under the cover as he left her sleeping, dressed quickly and casually into the light-grey sweater and sweatpants Storm had left for them and sneaked out from their room. His loose outfit, in his opinion, looked ridiculous but it seemed that he fitted in as he noticed a couple of young mutants hanging around in the living room while he passed it. They were wearing same sort of clothing.

He followed the echoing voice of the professor that seemed to guide him all to way to his study room which door was invitingly ajar.

Charles Xavier sat in his chair under a reading light, a book in his hands, dressed in pyjamas and a dark-blue robe. He lifted his eyes from the book as Loki entered, finishing first the last lines of the chapter he was reading.

The professor gave him a small smile. "So, you decided to accept the challenge? Please, do come in, Loki."

Loki closed the door and took a moment to study the room which appealed his eyes in some level; it was spacious and opulent and there were books, a lot of books. "And what is this challenge? How am I to prove myself?"

Charles drove his chair closer to Loki and smiled. "That is simple. You will let me read your mind."

Loki snorted and broke into chuckles. "You are jesting, right? You woke me up in the middle of the night for this? Did Logan ask you to unearth all of my darkest secrets?"

Charles shook his head. "Logan doesn't know we're having this conversation. And Emma doesn't need to know it either."

Loki narrowed his eyes with a cool smile. "So clandestine, Professor. You must be truly curious to see inside my head," he pondered aloud and took a few steps forward. "What is it that you are hoping to find there?"

"The same thing I search from the minds of all people; hope," Charles said in a compassionate tone and got Loki's confused frown. "There is always hope. It seems that Emma has found hope in you. When she was younger she used to abhor all physical contacts. I'm pleased that she has overcome her fears, with you. So there must be some hope in you too."

"Are you not a bit too old for such naive thinking?"

"As much as you are an old soul with whims of a child," Charles retorted and Loki gave him an offended scowl. "Loki, I have seen wonderful things becoming alive only from a small glimmer of hope. When there is a hope and will, there is a way. And I have seen that you have taken your first uncertain steps on a new path. I truly wish you wouldn't go astray from that path but become the man Emma sees in you."

Loki looked at the old man at first in an uncertain cautiousness but then with a growing interest, their nightly debate becoming even more interesting. The professor made it sound like he would have known the trickster god and Loki was more curious to learn what he knew about the Tesseract.

Loki took a few steps closer and sat on a black leather couch, looking careless. "You keep bringing Emma into this conversation. It feels like you know her better than you us let to believe. What does she has to do with all of this?"

Charles closed his hands on his lap. "Like I told you, I do protect my students. You see, Emma was once my student in a short period of time. She does not remember any of that because I erased her most painful memories to ease her mind. She had suffered so much. And as long as she is under my roof I will do all in my powers to keep her safe."

_So, she has been right all along about the place,_ Loki realized and clenched his jaw. "Now, was that a threat, Professor?" he asked, lifting his brows, pondering should he have been prepared to put up a fight, mental or physical. The thought of it was amusing if he was forced to kill an old crippled man. But he would if the man had harmed his Emma in any way.

"No. That was an offer, Loki," Charles assured and kept talking conversationally as he drove closer. "Did you know that origin of the name Emma means _whole_ or _universal_? I would say it's fitting for her because that is what she needs to become; a whole again after all she has faced. I can see that you have helped her accepting herself, to becoming more complete. That is something we should all try to pursue. And it might be just her who has set you on the right path to find yourself, my friend. Now, if you would allow me to see into your mind, to see that you will remain on that right path, to see your true purpose with the Tesseract… I might help you to find it."

Loki leaned back in his cosy seat, giving an impression that he was more comfortable about this that he actually felt. And he felt as ungainly as he must have looked like in those baggy Midgardian clothes he was wearing. "Why would I need your help? My _brother_ already knows where that thing is."

"That's true. But SHIELD also knows that you are going for it and they are prepared to stop you at any cost. By helping you to gain it I'm wishing to void casualties on both sides," the professor said, staring at his guest in a significant manner. "I don't want anyone getting hurt."

The offering was too good to resist and yet so very intimate that it nearly frightened the god of mischief. To Loki's surprise the old man wasn't even slightly afraid of him. But he stared at the professor with a little bit of a fearful respect, not letting it show. This Charles Xavier seemed to exude confidence in the same certain manner as Odin did and it made him thinking that he had met his equal, or worse yet; his superior in the mind games and illusions. _This old man could have been ever more dangerous than Logan was_, he realized.

"I am afraid you would not like what you would find in my mind," Loki warned cautiously, his voice low and considering, his thoughts returning to Emma. The only reason he would do something as madly desperate as this would be her. Not to mention he wouldn't be so dependent on Thor if he would discover the whereabouts of the Tesseract.

"I have seen in the minds of millions of people. All the good and the bad that human mind can concoct. Believe me, I do not judge. And it is not your past that I'm interested, it is your future."

"And what if you will find something you do not _approve_?"

"Then we both will forget we ever had this conversation."

Narrowing his eyes Loki dropped his guards, a wicked smile conquering his lips. The professor might be getting more he had bargained for. _Over a thousand years to explore. This could take a while._ "Go ahead then," he said in a dark tone. "Prepare to face my demons, Professor."

**… …**

In the first light of dawn Emma tossed awake from a nightmare where she had been falling into an endless pit of ice after choosing to let go and there had been people around the crevasse watching her fall; faces from SHIELD and Hydra as she had chosen the lesser of two evils.

The room was silent and dim around her and she could almost hear her heart beating in her chest. She lay on her back and heaved a deep breath, soothing herself after the bad dream that had been like a reminder, telling her that her run wasn't over yet.

"Loki," she whispered, her hand searching him between the sheets in the dark. His side was empty and cold, and so was the other one behind her. And her pounding heart sank with a quick thought he had left her alone again.

"Loki!" she called out for him louder before her senses woke up and she could feel his presence drawing near and hear him walking towards the bed quietly.

"Here, my love," Loki whispered back to her while he peeled himself from the sweater and pants and slipped back under the cover next to her after returning from his night stroll.

The bed sank while a safe arm wrapped around her waist and pulled her closer to him, the warmth of her body welcoming him back. She turned to him in relief, breathing in his scent and wrapping her arms around him, seeking shelter in his embrace.

"Where were you?" she asked whispering, a bit worried, inching herself near him until she felt his body against hers.

"Nowhere. I could not sleep," Loki whispered against her temple, holding her gently, a sated smile on his lips as he was now armed with the knowledge and means of how to get to the Tesseract. The whole world was his to take. At least that's what it felt like. "A bad dream?" he asked gently.

"Yeah. I was falling into a crevasse. I chose it rather than been caught..."

"I promise I will never let you fall."

"I know. Please, just hold me."

He caressed her softly, lying there by her side and she pressed herself against him more tightly. It felt good, so perfect. They were like that a long moment in silence, the rising sun slowly illuminating the room. A new day had arrived and there was a lot on his mind. One thing above anything else; she.

His cheek brushed her golden hair, his arms holding her tighter. "I shall make you complete, my love," he whispered.

"You already have," Emma murmured, snuggling up with him, loving his words and his voice and him holding her. She felt good and calm again.

"I will wed you, Emma Morgan."

She grew still and opened her eyes to see his. "You'll… what?"

A quiet knocking came from the door and Logan's voice followed: "Wake up, you two. It's time to go!"


	31. 31 Some men are from Asgard

_Thank you all for your reviews and your patient with me. I'm sorry that my updates takes so long time now days, but I'm very slow in the writing process and don't have so much time with it as I'd like to. _

_**Tarun / Tanya **__Thank you for kind words. I would be happy to answer you questions if I only can, for example through the private messages in this forum. If you haven't signed up yet, I can recomment it. Unfortunately, I haven't seen the Agents of SHIELD but I would love to see that show. And I would definitely love to see that upcoming Loki series._

**… …**

"Now you're actually scaring me a bit," Emma said, unsure was she being sarcastic or not.

She pulled a light-grey sweater over her head, getting dressed effortlessly into her new clean clothes that Storm had left for them.

Greatly confused, Loki got off from the bed and picked up his own clothes from the armchair. "I do not understand. All I said is I want to marry you, not sentence you to death," he assured, getting a feeling that she was suddenly avoiding his gaze.

Like she would have been in hurry, she slipped into the sweatpants and turned at him with questioning eyes. "Why?"

Loki stared back at her, only a bundle of black and green clothes covering his private parts. "Because… I want you to become my wife. What say you?"

Her whole body felt tensed but she was gawping with a small smile. "Loki, you don't know me well enough. I don't know you well enough…"

"On the day they were wed Odin knew of Frigga less than I know of you now. Emma, we have the rest of our lives to get to know each other better. I am being more than sincere, my love." There was that sweet softness in his voice as he spoke with a passion of a bard. "If I would have my sword with me now I would give it to you."

She grimaced. "To fall on it?"

Loki looked at her gloomily but then took a solemn expression. "As an engagement gift. Since we have already shared the bed," he stated, not liking her of making jests about the matter.

In traditional Asgardian weddings the groom's ancestral sword was given to the bride to past down once to their future firstborn son. He knew more than well that there hadn't been anything traditional in their short courting that had led straight into a liaison but he wanted to do something right.

Maybe he had slipped the thing out of his mouth without thinking it over as if his silver tongue would have taken a day off, but he wanted her to be to him as Frigga was to Odin; a faithful companion, always devoted, obeying with a right to disagree. He wanted Emma to be his own and he wanted the whole world to know it.

"Yeah, a sword is just what I need," Emma murmured, combing her fingers through her wild locks, pondering was he only joking with her because that's what he loved to do every now and then. And if not, she didn't want to hurt his feelings by laughing at the madness of the whole idea, reminding herself that this was a guy who had tried to kill himself and it wasn't so long ago. He was planning major things concerning her again without even asking her opinion about the matter.

"Even this is very sweet in a creepy kind of Shakespearean way, but… Loki, things are happening too fast. I don't think we are ready for something like a marriage yet," she explained cautiously.

He moved closer in bare feet and completely naked, holding only his clothes to cover himself. "You wish not to marry me?" he asked sounding hurt and offended, his dark brows arcing in a displeased frown.

She heaved a breath, taking a step closer to him. "Look, I love you. I love being with you. Last night was amazing and beautiful, and I want a lot more of those. And I don't want you to leave me but…"

There was a pondering looking in his eyes as he listened to her. "Oh, you think I should ask your hand in marriage from your father?"

"No! Absolutely not!" Emma exclaimed, lifting her hands at him and then face-palming herself. "Don't do that, please. Logan would flip out. Besides, he has no right to decide on my behalf. He's been my father only for a day."

"Then maybe I should seek your mother's approval?" he suggested and she let out a tiny frustrated snort. "Or, maybe not?"

She looked somewhat troubled again, staring at him and yet loving to look at him. He was so gorgeous and last night together had been so wonderful. _Maybe she was the crazy one for not accepting it right away._

"Could we talk about this later? We probably should get going. Could you please get dressed?" she begged, finding it hard to talk seriously when he looked that good without his clothes on. She just wanted to rip her clothes off and shove him on the bed for another round between the sheets.

There was a playful smile on his lips as he moved closer. "Not until you say yes."

She shrugged, spreading her hands in disbelief. "Even I'm not a big fan of marriage, but it is not something you can take lightly."

"Being more committed to each other… it does not mean we can not still have fun."

"What does that mean? It was just another joke to you, huh?" she asked, upset, and slipped her shoes on.

"Of course not," he assured, getting upset too for her questioning his integrity about the matter. "Would you prefer to remain only as a warmer of my bed rather than being my wedded wife? Are you so much drawn to your mother's philosophy of life that you would settle for less?" he asked but already regretted the words that had left his mouth way before her expression altered. And so did his, sorry taking a shape on his face. "Emma…?" he sighed then in a sorry tone.

She breathed at first, trying to figure out what he said. "Was that some fancy way to call me _a whore_?_" _

He lifted his hand. "That is not what I meant. Do not twist my words!"

Every time her mother was mentioned it sent a rush of emotions through her, and Loki knew what she felt about her. To her that had been a mean comparison, and resentment flashed in her blue eyes. "Oh, that's got to be the best proposal ever!" she snapped before she turned and walked to the door. "You know nothing about my mom!"

"Emma, please stop! We must speak," he cried out after her as she stormed out from their room, the door slamming shut behind her.

Loki closed his eyes, cursing in silence for the lack of his natural consideration. It seemed that the more he tried to accept the responsibility of his actions, dropping his calculative perceptiveness with her, the harder it got to understand the whole thing. Everything about last night had been so perfect, their closeness and the love they had shared that he didn't want to go back to his old-self. Not with her anyway. She was so easy to be honest with, maybe even too much so.

The old professor had talked about the miracle of hope, and Loki had been optimistic about his relationship with Emma, wanting to cement that with an engagement before he would return to Asgard. And he couldn't understand why she needed to hesitate at all if she truly loved him, if she felt the same.

He let out an annoyed groan while pulling up his black leather trousers. Frustrated to his own clothing that took much more time to get them on, he dressed himself with his magic in a flash, polishing his looks, and dashed after her.

When Emma entered the corridor it was already buzzing with life; students roaming lazily through the long hallway and it got her wary. _The mutant students,_ she realized, even they all looked pretty normal to her except one very big guy who bid her good morning politely.

Feeling uncomfortable, she walked slowly along the corridor but stopped and leaned her shoulder against the wall, regretting that stupid exchange of words with Loki and her own childish reaction to it. She didn't need to create any more drama in her life than she already had. They came from two different worlds, so of course they would have different kind of values in life and approach of things. In some cases he was as old-fashioned as her grandparents had been. With that thought, she bit her tongue and heaved a long sigh, pondering would her grandmother had approved Loki as her companion.

It was obvious that the new day had brought back the old troubles. They were still going after the Tesseract and he was still planning to go back home. All of it troubled her, making her speak before thinking. Maybe it troubled him too. Maybe he longed for something more solid with her.

She heard the door opening behind her and Loki's hasty steps as he strode to her.

Loki noticed a few young students and let them pass before he approached Emma, placing his hand on her shoulder. "Please, forgive me what I said. It was not fair of me to speak to you like that. You misunderstood me. I would never think so low of you," he said in the most humble voice. "I admit I have high expectations of us. I thought…" his explained and the tone of his voice quivered as he stepped next to her, "I thought that you wanted to be mine."

Emma closed her eyes and turned at him, leaning her back against the wall and then looking up at him. "I do. I am. I'm sorry I snapped at you." She took a breath, her voice trembling too and a sad smile flickering across her face, her hand climbing on his chest. "It's just that… my mom never had any luck in love. I guess it wasn't easy when being a single parent and all. She tried so hard to find a decent guy, but every time when they got to the point of making their relationship more official, it didn't take long when she figured out that he was a cheating bastard. She waited months or years wasting her time, waiting something that never came, being always the second…" She didn't even know why she was telling this to him.

The trickster god took her hands on his. "You will always be my one and only. You must believe me. I do not want to imagine this world without you anymore. We are good together, yes?" he asked gently.

"Yes, but for how long? I have learned to live one day at a time, and I haven't really yet thought about our future so far ahead. But when I do, it almost scares me," she said in a small voice, holding on from his hands. And seeing him in front of her again in his green, gold and black, his long hair slicked back once more and his looks radiating everything but mortality, it only confirmed her fears. "Loki, I want us to be together forever, but… maybe forever was meant to you, not for me. If I've inherited all my father's genes I might live longer than an average human being, but I see a marriage as a promise to stick together no matter what and to grow old together." She paused looking into his eyes, the thought paining her. "And I will grow old… and you will eventually grow tired of me…"

"No," Loki whispered and pulled her near, closing his arms around her. "It doesn't have to be like that. There are means to fulfil that dream. You once said there is hope for us and I believe in that now more than ever. And I am willing to do what ever it takes to keep a smile on your lips." He cupped her face with his palm, his uncertain small smile seeking an answer from her eyes. "Please, say yes."

She touched his hand on her cheek, falling for those emerald eyes, returning his smile. "Oh gosh. Tell me that you're not just messing with me."

"Not with something this significant."

"Then you must be plain mad."

"Yes," he smiled, "madly in love with you."

She smiled a bit too. "Then I must be as mad as you are."

"What a perfect match we are, you and I. Don't you agree?"

"Have you really thought about this over? I mean… I'm a mortal girl from Earth you've just met. There comes no dowry with me, and I don't accept Tudorian style divorces…"

His finger on her lips stopped her silly reasoning. "I want nothing but you."

_It was the most insane idea ever, but at the same time, it felt like the best idea. He was totally making her the most indecisive person there was._

She smiled to herself. She smiled to him. "If we are going to do this for real, then let's do it properly."

"Hm?"

"Kneel!" Emma said in a quiet but determinate voice, a tiny challenge in her eyes.

"I am sorry?" Loki looked at her a bit lost, glancing to his side at a couple of mutant kids walking by.

"I said; _kneel_," she said again more softly, studying his eyes that showed genuine confusion.

They didn't pay attention to a distant sound of a doorbell coming from downstairs, their focus remaining only on each other.

Emma gave him a sad smile. "On her deathbed my grandmother told me never accept a proposal unless the man would pop the question down on his knees. So, I'm going to stick to that promise I gave her when I was twelve." She swallowed. "Um… Well?"

A surprise filled his eyes and smile was slowly conquering his face, bringing those sweet dimples on his pale cheeks. He would have laughed at the idea if she hadn't been so adorable. She was truly challenging him, an Asgardian prince, to kneel before a small mortal woman, as if last night had not been enough. There was something he understood, though; she wanted an ancestors' blessing that was sought also before any Asgardian marriages. And he wanted to have her as his own in a way that her grandmother would have approved gladly. _He was such a fool, a fool for her._

She was waiting in uncertain silence, pondering if she had crossed the line. But a gesture like that would have proven him to be serious about the future of their relationship.

As she recalled the stories told to her, her grandparents had gotten engaged only after three weeks of going out, just before her granddad had gone off to the war. _So, she was beyond granny-Emma's reproaches in this matter._

A loud shout of a young man came from downstairs, breaking that moment of truth. "Hey! There's some big guy with a hammer at the door asking for Loki!"

Emma saw Loki's face clouding with a thought of Thor arriving, that playful smile fading from his eyes. He heaved a deep duty-filled sigh, and she felt her heart sinking with his. _Were their time together already over?_

She leaned closer to him, lifting her hands on his face, caressing him. "You go and save the peace of the Nine Realms and do what ever you have to do there but come back to me. Please, just come back and if you still feel the same then ask me, and I promise that my answer will be yes," she said as for an encouragement, seeing a small glimmer returning in his gaze. "A deal?"

He nodded, kissing her palm. "It is a deal," he whispered and he leaned down to kiss her lips. _That had been yes. That was good enough for now._

Heavy running steps carried Logan up the stairs and he stopped at the other end of the corridor when he noticed them kissing. "There you are. Morning. Loki, your idiot brother is here asking for you!" Logan announced.

That brought an agreeing smile back on Loki's lips. "Thank you, Logan. And good morning to you too," he said, taking Emma under his arm. Their talk was hardly over, but he knew her answer now and he would wait only for a perfect moment to propose her, properly.

"Better scrub that stupid grin off your face, buddy," Logan warned as Loki's smirk was telling him more than he wanted to know about their night spent together.

"Morning, Logan," Emma said to her father and squeezed herself tighter against the side of her guy.

Logan's thick brows furrowed when he noticed her beginning to glimmer. "Emma, you're… glowing!" he said pointing his finger at her.

At first, she thought it was a compliment but then she glanced down at herself, seeing her outfit changing. Her quite comfortable grey sweatpants turned into black slim-fit jeans and her sweater changed into a tight-fitting black leather corset, embroidered with delicate golden patterns. And the long, absinth-green hem of the tunic underneath it looked like a mini skirt. Her new conjured outfit looked beautiful and perfectly fitting, clearly a mix of the features from both of their worlds and accompanied with high heel shoes. _Green, black and gold!_ She grinned, lifting her gaze at Loki, feeling like a modern Xena. "Yay! Team colors! Thank you, Loki."

Her smile was thanks enough and Loki smiled too. "I am glad you like it."

Logan rolled his eyes. "Oh great! Now you look like a damn _Robin Hood's_ girlfriend," he grunted.

"Hey, maid Marian was a high-class broad. Besides, we are going to steel from SHEILD. I think this is fitting, don't you?" she grinned back at him and turned to Loki. "I like it. But high heels again? Come on! Really?"

"I am sure you will adapt," Loki promised with a grin.

**… …**

As they made it to the downstairs the main hall was filled with young mutants, some of them kids, majority of teenagers and a few older male and female. All of them staring curiously at their guests and whispering to each other, making Emma uncomfortable for the attention they were receiving. Logan looked like he was at home, greeting some of the kids casually. And after Loki bid them good morning, some of the young ones gathered a bit closer more curiously.

"You're Loki of Asgard, aren't you?" a black-haired boy, about 16 years old, finally asked, excited, stepping in front of the big Asgardian deity.

Loki smiled a bit and nodded. "I am. And you are, young sir?"

The boy gave him an endearingly eager smile. "I'm Artie. I love snakes. We've seen your tricks in the net. You wanna see ours?" he asked and flicked his blue lizard-like tongue out.

Emma gasped in surprise and the boy frowned at her.

"Oh, very nice. I defiantly want a tongue like that too," Loki approved and the boy smiled stepping aside.

Then came the others who were eager to show their powers to the Trickster. One older boy made an ice serpent with his powers, a girl ran through a solid wall and others made things Emma or Loki had never seen, all of them wanting to show their own tricks to their guests like it would have been a circus around them.

Loki was fully enjoying the show around him, complementing and encouraging them to give all they got. And to Emma it looked like they were all proud of what they were, being able to show their powers to someone new. She on the other hand wasn't so eager to show her own powers to any of them, feeling an outsider even among her own kind.

"All right! Great show. But we should get going soon. Don't you guys have classes to attend to today?" Logan shouted to the group of kids and received some disagreeing grumble. "And would someone let that annoying hammer guy in?"

Emma watched at Logan who seemed to fit in to that place and coming along with the kids as if he would have been a teacher or a father figure to them. She thought that she would have hardly fitted in there, but her life would have surely been different in that place. She might have even met her father there years ago.

Logan noticed her sad and pondering look. "Everything all right, Ems?" he asked.

She gave him a small smile. "Yeah, I was just wondering what kind my life would have been if I would have lived here."

Logan had no heart to say a word about her erased past and when he lifted his eyes he saw Loki staring at him gloomily like the alien boy would have known something about that.

When the kids were clearing out of their way that is when Loki noticed his brother coming towards him across the main hall.

"Brother," Thor smiled broadly, as he approached Loki letting out satisfied chuckle. "A glorious morning, isn't it?"

There was a pretty, brown-haired woman on Thor's arm and Loki had a good hunch who she was, doing his best to hide his mischievous grin. _So, he was finally meeting Jane Foster._

"Indeed," Loki answered, being more than enough sated after his night with Emma. No one was going to take that away from him, ever.

"Oh shit! He brought a dame with him?" Logan grunted in a quiet voice, rolling his eyes. "Meet me in the kitchen, I'll go find us some breakfast," he said before he left.

With a growing worry, Emma stared at Thor and his lady friend when they met in the middle of the hall. _Oh shit! This got to be that Jane Foster_, she realized and squeezed tighter on Loki's arm. _Maybe she should have said yes in the first place to keep him happier._

Thor seemed be in a jovial mood as he nodded in a greeting to Emma and turned then at his lady. "Jane, I want you to meet my brother Loki, the prince of Asgard. And this is Emma…" he begun his introductions.

Jane stared at the smirking dark Asgardian as it occurred to her that he was responsible for destroying half of the town of Puente Antiguo and jeopardizing all the people there including her friends when he sent that destroyer after Thor. And he just kept grinning like an evil smug.

It took only two seconds but Emma could feel the tension tautening between them, or maybe it was just her own nervousness.

Loki bowed lightly with his charming grin. "Delighted to _finally_ meet you, _Jane Foster_. You must have heard of me?"

Jane gawped at him in anger. "You're Loki?" she grunted and on a whim lifted her hand to punch him in the face.

Without blinking the god of mischief stared down at her, noticing that her fist had stopped only two inches away from his face. And as his eyes took a glance at his side he found Emma's hand around Jane's wrist, pushing the woman's clenched fist farther away from him.

It took Jane for a surprise and even more so as she saw three icy spikes drawing out from between Emma's knuckles.

"Back off, Cupcake! I have a monopoly on that. Try to lay your hand on him again and I'll snap your little wrist in half!" Emma snarled at the woman, her feral side defending her territory. Her claws thrust all the way out, before she freed Jane from her cold grip.

"He's all yours!" Jane gasped, stepping back in a mild shock, giving up for her _'that's for Puente Antiguo' _-punch.

"A shame," the god of mischief smirked, glancing at both of the ladies, his grin laced with irresistible mischievousness. "I would have loved to see a good fight."

Emma's obvious jealousy of him felt somehow strangely exciting. No one had ever been jealous over him before. _Since when had she claimed an exclusive domination over him?_

"Loki," Thor disapproved the idea and took a defending stand, taking Jane under his arm, pondering was this another joke of his. "And this is Emma Morgan. Emma, do not dare to threat Jane again!"

"Hey, you saw it. She started it!" Emma grunted, pointing her claws at the woman.

"She's an Asgardian too?" Jane asked cautiously and whispering, rubbing her sore wrist.

Emma pulled her claws back in, staring daggers at the woman. "I'm a mutant from Earth and goddamn proud of it!"

Some approving clapping caught their attention and they found three boys standing in the doorway and applauding at the demonstration of her powers and it got Emma uncomfortable and dropping her attitude. When the boys saw her expression, they saw it wiser to run off.

"_Shit!_" she hissed and gave Jane an apologizing smile. "Ah. Sorry about that. I know it's no excuse but I've had quite a rough week."

Jane only nodded. "Yeah, tell me about it."

"I believe there is some breakfast served here if you are interested," Loki said changing the subject fluently, pointing his hand towards the kitchen's direction where Logan had gone. "Please."

"Thanks," Jane murmured and was more than pleased to get away from the crazy ice-claw woman. She wasn't sure which one of them scared her more, the trickster god or his overly jealous mutant girlfriend.

While passing by his brother, Thor gave Loki a silent and angry frown as if asking was Emma mad for pulling her claws out like that to Jane.

After Thor and Jane were out of their sight, Emma closed her eyes letting out a groan.

"What is wrong with me?" she whined turning at Loki who only smirked at her playfully.

He lifted his hand on her shoulder and pulled her closer. "Oh, you are my hero," he whispered into her ear endearingly.

"Don't!" Emma whimpered, being embarrassed enough for her overacted reaction. "Your brother's girlfriend seems nice. Jeez, this started well."

Loki couldn't stop smiling. "It served that dreadful woman right. I am most certain that she will not dare to approach me with such violent intentions again," Loki jested, squeezing her under his arm.

"Yeah! Now she thinks that _I'm_ some crazy person who wants to kill her."

"I know the feeling. You threaten someone a bit and they immediately jump to conclusions. What a mad world this is."

Emma looked up at him, meeting his smile that was only growing, and she chuckled with him as they followed the others to the kitchen. _Yeah, she had to be a little bit nuts for promising a positive answer for his future proposal. They really deserved each other._

**… …**

Breakfast was on the kitchen table and Logan, Thor and Jane already helped themselves, sitting at the table in an awkward silence. Cheerful voices of younger people carried from the next room, the dining hall, where the students were eating.

Logan didn't feel much of a homemaker, and he didn't bother to get up from his ass as Emma and Loki finally joined them at the breakfast.

"We've got coffee and tea. I guess there's some cereals over there if you like, Emma. Help yourselves," Logan said and took a sip from his coffee mug, glaring at Thor who was already happily stuffing himself with toast and scrambled eggs.

"Thanks," Emma said and checked the offerings on the tables. It was like a small-scale hotel breakfast and it looked nice. That cereals-part especially made her smile at her father.

She noticed Jane Foster watching at her uneasily as she sat next to the woman. "Look, I'm sorry, Jane. That was not the real me back there. I'm not at my best before breakfast," Emma explained in a sorry tone.

"It's fine!" Jane stammered and handed her plate with an untouched toast and her cup of coffee to Emma hastily. "Here, you can have mine. Coffee?"

Emma shook her head with a mild smile and sensed the woman's obvious nervousness with her. That was something new. "No thanks. Caffeine has this same kind of crazy effect on me as the full moon has on a werewolf, you know?" she joked with a serious face.

Logan lifted his gaze from his cup at her frowning. "No shit! Really?"

Emma cracked smiling as Jane pulled her cup far away from Emma, and her grin broadened and she shook her head again slowly. "No! Sorry. I'm just messing with you. Don't worry! It's not like I'd try to kill you or anything," she said and went for some orange juice, exchanging glances with Loki. He seemed to love her slightly mischievous humour, and actually so did she.

Jane tried to force a smile but it looked more like a painful grimace that she hid behind her mug. "Great! Ha-haa."

Logan snorted, amused, not believing the company he was being with. "Trust me, she's the least person you should be worried about here," he assured to Jane.

"Yeah? If you ask me, you look the only normal person around here, Mr. Logan, was it?" Jane said, taking a bit from her toast.

"Don't let the looks fool you. Emma is my kid. I'm worse than she is."

"Oh? That's… nice. Families are nice," Jane murmured and stared at Thor and his brother who sat opposite each other, challenging themselves with the mortals' strange breakfast.

Thor gulped his cup empty. "This coffee drink is great. You should try, Loki," he said, lifting the mug. "Can I have another cup, please?"

Loki's forehead furrowed with pure bewilderment. "Since when have you learned to ask nicely, brother? And no more smashing cups? I am impressed."

While getting herself a bowl of cornflakes Emma refilled Thor's coffee mug just for being friendly and handed Loki one too. "So, you do like smashing things up for real, Thor? Did he break anything while being with you, Jane?" she asked for making conversation.

Jane chewed her mouth empty and shrugged. "Well, only one huge robot-monster sent from Asgard that was destroying a small town in New Mexico," Jane said sharply and eyed Loki suspiciously.

"Oh?" Emma turned at the trickster god too, putting down the coffee pot. "You don't happen to know anything about that, _my dear_?"

Loki dropped his gaze shortly and lifted it again with a small smile and a cinnamon roll. "Please do accept my sincere apologies for any inconvenience…"

"Inconvenience?" Jane cried out angrily. "You tried to kill your brother! That fire-beaming _thing_ tried to kill all of us!" she yelped and accidentally knocked over her coffee mug, being so worked up.

"Luckily I was able to stop it," Thor announced, visibly proud of himself for that moment.

While still standing, Emma handed her some paper towels for the mess. "Right," she murmured. Her gaze darted back at Loki. He had that sorry rascal-grin on his face as he kept staring back at her, as though asking what she would think about that. All the secrets of New Mexico exposed now. "You know what? Maybe you should have deserved a little punch in the face after all, Loki," she agreed and sat down next to Jane, pouring her a refill.

Jane nodded at her, lifting her hand in agreement. "Yeah, thank you."

Thor and Loki glanced at each other as if it hadn't been a big deal and kept concentrating with their breakfast, murmuring a few brotherly words;

"It was indeed spiteful of you to send the Destroyer after me, brother. What were you thinking?"

"Yes, I admit it now. It probably wasn't the best idea. Will you forgive me, brother?"

"It is forgiven. I am glad to have you back, Loki."

"Was mother very upset with me for borrowing the Destroyer?"

"Would it surprise you if I say yes?"

After listening a while the deranged conversation around him, Logan put slowly his mug down, his dark brows knitted in a way he was obviously planning to shove his claws out to make some shish kebab from the alien boy. "You tried to kill innocent people?" he asked, repeating Jane's earlier words, his gaze nailed at Loki like asking _what the fuck_. Then he looked at Emma gawping. "What the fuck? Don't tell me I helped you to free some psycho alien killer out from the SHIELD's prison?"

"Nooo! Of course not!" Emma swore and scooped another spoonful of cornflakes into her mouth. "No one got hurt in New Mexico, right?"

"Not that I'm aware of," Jane murmured pondering.

"See. Everything is fine! SHIELD always overreacts," Emma hurried to assure to Logan, also relieved with that information. "Everybody; happy thoughts now!"

"We need to talk," Logan announced to his kid, looking her straight to the eyes.

"Sure. Let's just finish this first."

Emma watched a while at the people around the table, the Asgardian brothers joking with each other, Logan commenting their talk every now and then, and Jane Foster who seemed to be a bit lost there but trying to engage into their conversation. When Emma asked what Jane was doing for living, she found out that they have been both working on the same field of science, astronomy and there was a lot more to talk about.

As her pondering gaze met with her father's who sat opposite her, that moment felt actually like home. It was not the place, but the people around her that suddenly made her feel like she had found something she had been seeking for eight years. She had a father and a boyfriend. That was the closest thing to a family she had and that small moment on the breakfast was her home. She didn't have to pretend to be something else that she was. She was a mutant and it was okay, and there sat people with her who cared about her. If felt so empowering.

"You're OK there, kid?" Logan asked her after seeing her getting a bit sentimental again and Loki's concerned gaze met with hers too.

Emma smiled to them both. "Yeah. This must be what the normal life feels like. God, I've missed it. I'm glad I have you two with me. Actually, I'm glad that you all are here now."

A small silence filled the breakfast table, people glancing at each other, and all finding something to agree on with her.

It reminded Jane of her own friends. "Oh gosh, I have forgotten to send a message to Darcy and Eric that I'm fine. They must be worried sick," she said picking up her mobile phone.

"Her friends are very nice. You should met them," Thor told to Loki.

Emma's focus landed on Jane's mobile that was turned on. "Please, tell me you've got a prepaid SIM card in that, bought with cash?"

"No, it's my own." Jane gulped as the phone began beeping with every new text message she was receiving, all sent from Darcy. She lost count after the fourth one and the messages just kept coming. "Oh… no," she sighed realizing her mistake. "Sorry. I didn't…"

Emma grabbed the phone, and with hurry, tossed it inside a microwave oven and turned it on. The oven started sparking and cracking and the shells of the phone was turning into a puddle of melting plastic before it burst into flames with more sparks and a minor explosion inside the oven.

"And we're out of here!" Emma stated, returning to the table and finishing her glass of juice with a one big gulp, standing. "Thanks for the breakfast. This was nice. Let's do it again some times."

Jane stared at her gawping, glancing over her shoulder at the microwave that beeped. _One well-done and crispy mobile phone ready! _"W-what? What just happened? That was my phone! You couldn't just turn it off?"

"You can never be too safe."

Certain cautiousness filled Loki. "What is it?"

"My wild guess is that SHIELD will be here in… about 30 minutes if they registered her phone's signal. We need to go. Right now!"

"Oh shit!" Logan grunted, stuffing the scraps of toast into his mouth and getting up. They needed to borrow a car to get away from there and fast. "Those of you who don't want to stay here chatting with the agents follow me!"

Thor got up. "I think Emma is right. They can find anyone with those Midgardian magic contraptions. Tony Stark showed me how it works."

Jane stood still when people around were already moving out from the kitchen following Logan. "I'm sorry. I didn't do it on purpose," she said nervously, tucking her hair behind her ears.

"It is all right, Jane," Thor promised with a gentle smile, his hand on her back, propelling her to follow the others.

"No. It is not all right, _Jane_," Loki murmured, a darker undertone in his voice, shooting her a glare under his brows, which made Jane more troubled.

Emma registered that remark and scooped Loki's hand in hers as they walked side by side. "Let's not get into crazy vikings now, okay?"

Rolling his wheelchair in the main hall, Charles Xavier got the whole group stopping in front of him. "Leaving so soon, Logan?" the old professor asked with a small smile. "I see that your pack has gained a couple new members," he added, greeting Thor and Jane with a friendly nod.

"Yeah, I'm afraid you might get some visitors from SHIELD soon, Charles," Logan said with repentance.

"Don't worry. It is nothing I can't handle," Charles assured. "Go to the hangar and take the jet. If they ask I'll say that you stole it."

Logan puckered his forehead. "You know damn well I can't fly it."

"No," Charles admitted and turned at Emma, "but she can."

"What?" Emma felt like all eyes were on her and she glanced at Logan and then at Charles again. "I can?"

Charles drove his chair closer to her and she took a few steps backwards. "Trust me, Emma. Keep it opened minded and you can accomplish anything. I feel regretful that I failed you to feel secure on your first stay here with us," he said like there would have been a deeper meaning behind those words.

Emma clasped her hands together. "It's okay. And I feel bad about the things I said to you. I don't think clearly when I'm nervous. I'm sorry for the way I behaved last night."

"There's nothing to be sorry about. Please, remember that you are always welcome back here."

"Thank you, Professor Xavier."

Charles's gaze turned to Loki by her side. Their nightly discussion had been quite interesting and enlightening for both of them. "Loki, I still encourage you to remain on the path you've chosen even if that path may lead you through the darkness. I can only wish you good luck for finding what you are searching for, my friend," Charles said to the dark Asgardian and offered his hand. "I can guide you to the Tesseract but from there on you are on your own."

Loki stepped closer and shook hands with the old man. "Thank you, Charles. I do hope that our stay here will not cause you and your students too much trouble with the SHIELD. Very gifted and delightful young ones you have here to shepherd."

Emma and Logan exchanged glances pondering what had happened between Charles and Loki since they seemed to come along a bit too well comparing for the last night.

"Go now, Logan. I wish we see again," Charles said, leaving goodbyes unsaid.

**… …**

"Wow! I honestly didn't know I can even get this airborne!" Emma exclaimed, thrilled, holding on from the jet's control wheel and pulling it, clicking a few buttons like a pro pilot. She felt the power of the engines below lifting the aircraft slowly off the ground.

"I thought Charles said you can fly this thing!" Logan barked, ridiculously alarmed, his fingers digging into his seat's armrests. He hated flying. He hated it even more when the pilot wasn't a real pilot at all.

The x-man's dark-silver jet had been stubbornly shaking like a rodeo-bull in the underground hangar, before Emma had managed to get comfortable with the controls. The guiding voice of Charles Xavier inside her head had given her some aiding and she had seeing it wiser to accept the unexpected help even it had freaked her out at first. _That's what he had meant by asking her to trust him_.

"Just give me a minute to get the hang of it!" she shouted back at Logan, concentrating hard with the controls and maneuvering the hovering jet out from the hangar. She knew how to fly a helicopter but this was very different, even the Quinjet had been way different to pilot than this jet.

"You are doing marvelously, my dear," Loki encouraged her in his own roguish way, enjoying of creating some emotional turbulence among the passengers. "Now try not to hit anything and get us all killed."

"You know what, Loki? I think I'll give that a try," Emma said in a monotone, her focus remaining on steadying the jet, and she managed to fly it out and in the open air.

The jet rose surprisingly smoothly above the treetops and the landscape of the X-mansion opened before their eyes.

Jane squeezed Thor's hand, sitting beside him, pondering what the hell was she doing on board. She shouldn't have ever come there. "So, where have you received your pilot training, Emma?" she asked, her voice shivering.

Emma grinned. "I have only received some training for flying a helicopter. But I'm a hell of a fast learner. I do have some experience of flying a jet, though. I've done it once. Piece of cake."

"Once?" Jane cried out, pulling her seatbelts tighter, pale and ready to hyperventilate. "You have flew only once?"

"I would not worry. I think Emma managed to pilot that air-vessel rather well," Thor had to hand it to her.

"Yeah, no thanks to you, Thor," Emma retorted gently. "You're sure to keep that hammer of yours in the overhead compartment during the whole flight."

Loki grinned, loving that newly found confidence of hers. "Yes, and as I recall the aircraft was lacking a rear hatch and all passengers dropped off in a mile height," he told, casting a significant glance at Jane and his brother.

"What?" Logan exclaimed, thinking more and more that this was a very big mistake.

"What is the matter, Logan? Are you scared to place your life in your daughter's hands?" Loki smirked. "I told you, you should have let me fly this aircraft."

"Shut up, Loki!" Logan growled, the knot tightening on the bottom of his stomach. "Look, Ems. Why don't you take us down? We'll take a car…"

Emma checked the meters and took the right heading towards the Mojave Desert, taking in all the guidance she was receiving from the old professor in the mental level. "It's all right, Logan. I can do this," she promised, feeling as high as the jet that was already reaching the sky, the adrenaline coursing through her veins. "I hear voices in my head. They are telling me what to do."

"What? Is it Charles?" Logan hoped, uneasily.

"Oh god! Oh my god! You hear voices? You are crazy?" Jane mumbled in panic, her stomach protesting the fly and she was cursing herself for tacking along with them.

"It's okay. We've got two gods on board. We'll be just fine," Emma promised, gazing at Loki who sat the closest to her. She placed her hand on the throttle levers, her eyes smiling at him, her heart throbbing with vast excitement. "You said once you enjoy speed, Trickster. Now, this baby goes supersonic. Are you ready?"

"I'm not ready!" Jane protested loudly from the back.

"Always," Loki smiled back to Emma, his soft voice and his smile like a promise to be there by her side, always. "Just fly, my Valkyrie."


	32. 32 Trust issues

_Hi! Finally here with a new chapter. I hope you like it. _

_Tanya: You asked me have I seen Logan-movie. Yes, I saw it, actually 6 months later I had begun writing the story. Before that, I didn't even know Logan had "a kid" and I thought I was doing something original here. Hehe! You asked me if I could do a Logan and Laura fic. Maybe something short, an oneshot, but I can't make any promises. But I can encourage you to give it a try with writing. Thank You._

**… …**

As if they would have been flying over the surface of the moon, the rough terrain far below looked rocky, sandy and deserted, but not lifeless, as the land was occasionally dotted with small scrubs. Only less than three hours and the greenness of the eastern coast had changed into the sand-brown wilderness as Emma had piloted the jet to Mojave Desert. Flying there had been considerably easy taking into account of her experience.

Flying in stealth mode had kept them undetected by all the radars including the big ones of the Air Force. And Emma would have so wanted them to remain cloaked but they had a bold plan. A foolhardy plan actually, relying only on Loki's illusions and shapeshifting, putting their trust on him to the test. He used his powers to change the appearance of the jet, making it look like a Quinjet from the outside. It was only an illusion but if no one would come too close, they wouldn't notice the difference.

"If we're going to do it, there is no turning back. Are you absolutely sure about this, Loki?" Emma asked a bit nervously, slowing down the speed.

"Absolutely, one hundred percent sure," a strange but smooth voice answered to her, and she had to glance at him, finding him looking like Nick Fury. "Now, make us visible and take us down, agent Romanoff. And you let director Fury take over from here," he continued and placed on the headset.

Emma glanced down at her changed outfits quickly, touching her short straight hair with other hand. _So, she was the redhead again,_ she realized, amused.

"Okay, here goes nothing," she murmured, clicking off the stealth mode and taking the jet slowly lower.

Logan was still as uncomfortable as he had been during the whole flight. He was chewing his teeth, the veins on his forehead visible. His animal senses didn't deal well with the idea of flying, neither did he.

"You damn better be right about his, Loki. Or we'll be getting missiles in our ass soon," Logan grumbled.

Jane took another deep breath. She wouldn't have cared to know what happens if their plan fails.

"It will be fine," Thor said calmly, holding her hand.

It was scary how fast there were two Air Force's fighters on their tail, requesting them to identify themselves. Loki dealt with them through the radio, imitating Fury with the given detail received from Charles Xavier. Apparently, they were expecting the SHIELD director to the base they were heading. The fighter jets cleared away and they soon reached their target. The sight of the several huge facilities standing in the middle of the desert vale made Emma drop her jaw. It was like a small town.

"Oh, no way in hell! We're not going in there!" She swallowed, unhappy. She made a flyby over the place, trying to figure out the size of it.

"Emma, you have to land here or our plan will not work. They are not expecting their leader coming there by foot," Loki said.

"Yeah! And I bet they don't expect him to belly-land here either."

Logan looked suffering. "Emma, you do know how to land the jet, right?" he asked cautiously.

She let out an uneasy laugh. "Sure, you just do everything in the reverse order comparing to the taking off, right?" She glanced at the others over her seat. This time even Thor looked worried. "Am I right?"

**… …**

"Have you caught the big boys yet?" an indignant voice of Tony Stark asked in Fury's mobile phone.

Fury heaved a tired sigh, rubbing the back of his bald head. "No, we have not," he said, hating to admit that it was so. He was sitting inside a Quinjet, with a bunch of his tactical team members, heading to Nevada to the NASA's and SHIELD's Joint Base.

"Good!" Tony said sounding more than happy. "I'm happy to tell you that I fixed my suit and made a few nice improvements. It took me all night but it was worth it. Mark 6 has a new killer laser now. I call it _AC_. It's named after agent Coulson. There is no way _Simon and Garfunkel _would come out of this in one piece."

"I'm sure Coulson would have appreciated that. Stay focused, Stark. This is not a revenge mission," Fury stated, but inwardly he was pleased that Stark was getting into the right state of mind. Like everyone else, Tony Stark believed agent Coulson to be dead and Fury had used that to his advantage and made sure that Coulson death was believed to be due to Loki's manipulation.

"Just tell me, where you want me, Fury, and I'll be there."

"I'm sending you the coordinates right now."

"What about the _Ice Ice Baby_? Is she still tacking along with Loki?"

"As far as I know, Emma Morgan is with him. You go easy on her, Stark. I want her alive."

"Roger that."

"Oh, and by the way. Natasha is bringing some back up. We've got Steve Rogers."

There was a small pause in the phone. "Captain Rogers?"

"Yeah. The one and only."

"Didn't he die like seventy years ago? Or, then he should be – what, over ninety? Wow, I can't wait to meet the old man."

**… …**

The landing gears bumped gently against the ground as the jet made a slow touchdown. The fake Quinjet landed successfully on the apron, the landing area for smaller aircrafts, just in front of the tall buildings in the middle of the desert.

Emma was still squeezing the steering wheel and the thrust levers, unsure if they made it, as Loki unbuckled his seat-belts and went to her. "Well done, my dear," he said, touching her shoulder and turning her appearance back to her own self.

"We're not dead?" she asked cautiously.

Loki too had his own form now. "That was a perfect landing. I would fly with you any time again."

She sighed, greatly relieved. "Ah, beginner's luck!" she grinned and shut down the engines.

The whole group gathered on the rear of the cabin, slightly nervous anticipation filling the air.

"Here we are, fellows. Go and get what you came here for and we can all go home," Logan said bluntly. In a way, he had kept his promise to take them there. He had no more reason to stay hanging around. "The rest of us should get out of here before SHIELD figures out we're even here," he continued glancing at his kid.

Thor nodded. He was grateful for all the help they had gotten. "You are right. Thank you, my friend."

"Yes. Thank you, Logan," Loki said sounding sincere and offered his hand at the man.

Logan looked a bit annoyed but shook hands with the deity. "Yeah. Don't mention it. Just to let you know, I didn't do this for you, Loki."

Loki smiled equally annoyed. _They will never be friends!_ "It is good enough for me if you helped us for Emma's sake. Can you please look after her until I am back?"

"Will do. Don't hurry back, buddy."

Emma snorted. "Logan, please!"

"Our journey together on so far has come to an end," the thunder god said, picking Jane's hand on his and watching at the others. "It is safer that Loki and I go to find the Tesseract. And once found, we will harness its powers to transport us back to Asgard. With your skills, Emma, I sure you are able to take all of you away from here."

"Surely it would be an easy task for you, my dear," Loki said encouragingly, moving closer to Emma and stroking her arm. It was then, when Loki realized that it was time for goodbyes. It hit him hard. The moment, that he would have gladly postponed a bit longer, made him fall in silence as he looked into her eyes. "This is farewell… until we meet again." He swallowed. He didn't want to leave her. Not like this.

Suddenly Emma too felt stunned. She had assumed that they were going to do this together all the way to the end, but facing the facts it was better and safer this way. She dropped her gaze to gather her thoughts and took his hand on hers as he was reaching hers.

"So, this is it then?" she asked quietly, their eyes meeting again. His fingers gripped tighter around hers, pulling her closer. Every unspoken gesture was only intensifying that lump in her throat, that unfair feeling like she was losing him if he would walk out.

Next to them, Thor and Jane were already hugging and saying goodbyes with wishes of a reunion once more. Loki didn't pay attention to them or Logan, the only one who mattered stole his emerald gaze.

He breathed and blinked the moisture from his eyes with a smile. "I may go now but there is no space great enough between us to keep me away from you. I will return for you, Emma. I promise," he said softly lifting his hand on her cheek.

His touch was so tender and loving, and she was going to cherish it until he was back in her life again. "How long will it take? When will you be back?" she asked whispering, pressing herself against him.

Loki gave a sideways glance at his brother. "Sooner than you think, my love," he promised optimistically and closed her in his embrace, her golden curls soft like satin against his chin.

As though she would have been recharging her emotional batteries, she hugged him tightly and long, unwilling to let go like a lovesick teenager. She wanted to feel him close, breathing in his scent, memorizing everything about him so that she could go on, on her own until he was back.

"I'll wait for you, Loki. I would wait for eternity," she whispered, her forehead against his jawline, her arms around him, her eyes filling. "I love you."

Just a glimpse and he noticed that Thor was ready and waiting for him, and Logan was ready to get rid of him, but he didn't let them bother, not now. He lowered his eyes and held her tight, and prayed. He actually prayed that she would remain safe. "And I love you. Please, stay safe," he spoke to her with a whisper, looking into her eyes as she faced him.

Emma sniffled a bit, tears glistering in her eyes, her hands caressing his smooth face. "You too."

He forced a bittersweet smile, not wanting this end up with an unstoppable bawling. "I will be with you in no time and we will share many sunsets together again," he whispered with a slightly mischievous glint in his green eyes.

That made her smile. _They had come up with an own code word for sex._ "Looking forward for that, my lovely god of mischief."

His right hand moved cupping the back of her head, his left one pulled her to his chest, and he kissed her. He kissed her tenderly, a bit too respectfully but long like wanting to steal a little piece of her with him. And she was all his, kissing him back, not caring a damn about the people around them. If there had been a competition for the best goodbye kiss from an Asgardian, they definitely would have scored that game fair and square.

His mouth left her lips and his gaze held hers as he brushed her cheek with the back of his long fingers. "Soon," he promised once more with a small smile. "No tears."

Emma looked deep into his eyes, returning the smile, her lips unwilling to give up his. "Okay…" she whispered back at him with full trust.

Thor glanced at Jane while watching awkwardly his brother's passionate farewells with Emma, pondering if he should have made more an effort with Jane. Asgardians didn't kiss like that. If they had continued that much longer, they would have been devouring each other alive.

Thor cleared his throat. "I believe it's time, brother. Are you ready?"

With a flash of the trickster's magic, Loki's appearance changed, transforming him looking like Nick Fury again. His illusions settled upon them three so effortlessly, that one barely noticed the changing. Emma found herself being Natasha Romanoff and Thor was one of the agents who had been taking Jane from Pittsburgh to Washington.

The fake Fury stood in front of the opening rear hatch, looking at the mortals. "My illusions will last until I am gone from this realm. You are better leave soon so you will get as far as possible before the illusions unfold and SHIELD realizes that we wore here."

Emma, in her redhead form, nodded, trying to remain brave. "Alright. You two make sure no one gets hurt there. I mean it. No smashing the place is in million bits. No killing. Don't make me shove my claws out and come after you, guys! That wouldn't be pretty."

Loki smiled to that.

"Be careful, Thor," Jane said, recalling his attempt to get to his hammer in New Mexico.

"I will. We will meet again, Jane." Thor studied his suit and the small mobile phone in his hand that was really his hammer. Then he lifted his gaze at the women again. "Emma, I trust that you will see Jane getting back to her friends safely."

Emma and Jane exchanged glances. They had already agreed to that. "Sure. And you swear to me, thunder god, you'll do everything in your powers that Loki stays safe in Asgard."

The brothers glanced at each other. "You have my word," Thor said then as if he would have promised that as much to Emma as he swore it to Loki.

After everything said, the Asgardian brothers set their way on the SHIELD's soil, walking side by side in their disguises towards the great facilities, giving one more glance behind them at the jet. Two black military SUVs were parked on the side of the landing zone and six armed SHIELD agents in black stood next to it in waiting mode.

Thor didn't like the welcoming party ahead. "I do hope you know what you are doing, brother. If we get caught now, Jane and Emma won't face a change to get out of here."

Loki knew that well enough, his focus on the agents. It was harder with only one eye in his Fury form. "I know. You gave me your blessing to concoct this plan, brother. Now you are better stick to it and let me handle this."

In his lesser mortal form, Thor frowned at his brother. "How come you get to be Fury? I wanted to be Fury," Thor said quietly, sounding his own self.

"Well, you cannot because I am being Fury now," Loki answered with Fury's voice, taking the lead.

"He is the director of SHIELD. I am older than you are. I should have been Fury. Not some mediocre underpaid agent."

The fake Fury hushed him down. "Shut up. They would recognize your voice," Loki said as they were approaching the armed agents.

The agents started moving towards them with their weapons, and Thor squeezed the heavy phone in his hand, pondering was it any good as a weapon in this form. "Remember, we cannot fight our way in this time."

Loki gave his brother a confident smile. "Just, trust me."

**… …**

From the opening of the jet's rear hatch Emma followed the tricky situation developing outside. To her relief, the disguised brothers passed the first test by fooling the armed agents. It seemed that Loki and Thor actually got a lift from SHIELD, and Emma watched them leave the landing zone in the big SUV that took them away. With a slowly growing ache in her heart, she followed the cars with her gaze until they were out of her sight, disappearing into the town-like cluster of buildings. Loki hadn't yet left Earth and she already missed him so much.

Logan stepped next to her. "I'm sure, they'll make it," he reassured her. He saw the tears brimming in her eyes as she turned to face him and he touched her arm for some comfort. "When ever you feel up to it. We're better get going."

"Just give me a minute," Emma whispered and wiped her damped eyes, getting mentally ready for another take off.

The idea of flying again was nothing. Leaving Loki behind without turning back was the hardest part. And there was this small, itsy-bitsy part of her that felt uncomfortable for letting Loki go on that mission alone with his brother. She had to ask herself, did she not trust him enough. Of course she did, she had no other choice but to trust him.

Jane watched at Emma a while, finding it strange how casually she took the change of her total appearance. Jane knew that she would freak out it Loki would have changed her appearance into someone else.

She glanced once more outside, missing Thor. Their time together had been too short. "They'll come back. I know they will. Thor did," she spoke her thoughts aloud, sharing some compassion with Emma.

"Yeah." Emma turned at Jane and smiled to her new '_could-be sister-in-law'_. "So, next stop Pittsburgh, right?"

Jane shrugged, flashing a smile. "Anywhere alive would be just fine."

"Hey, I'm not that bad pilot!" Emma retorted, amused. She brushed her hair back, finding her locks shorter than usual.

Jane looked still somewhat puzzled. "Doesn't this strike you as any strange?" she asked, waving her hand at Emma. "I mean, Loki changing you into totally another person?"

Emma grinned to a memory. "I can deal surprisingly well with being someone else, but not so good what comes of being an animal."

"You've been… He turned you into… an animal?" Jane asked cautiously.

"You can continue your chat up in the air. Now is as good time as any to get out of here," Logan reminded to the ladies, walking towards them from the cockpit. "There's another aircraft arriving and we should get out of the way."

Like out of nowhere, another SUV drove to the landing zone and very close to the jet. The ladies noticed that two armed men stepped out, the other one of them striding straight towards the fake Quinjet.

"He's coming here!" Jane whispered, worried, moving backwards away from the opening.

Logan's brows furrowed in a nasty way. "Ah shit!" he murmured, taking cover against the cabin wall. His right hand's claws thrust out as he prepared to take down the approaching guy if he should walk in.

Jane's eyes grew width after seeing Logan's mighty claws. "Oh my g…"

Emma's palm landed on Jane's mouth, shutting her scared cry. The woman looked like she was ready to faint.

"It's okay! It's not as bad as it looks," Emma promised whispering and pushed Jane next to Logan against the wall. "I'll deal with them. You stay here. And no damn claws, Logan! No one gets hurt here today," she said in a quiet tone, giving her father a disapproving frown.

Logan's hand gripped from Emma's arm as she was leaving. "Don't' do it! They'll blow your cover," he warned her whispering, worry in his eyes, checking the rear hatch's closing button up in the wall. "Grab the wheel and let's just get out of here!"

"Hello! Anyone there?" the agent's voice called out from outside.

"They figures something's wrong. And like you said; we'll end up getting missiles in our ass once we're up," Emma reasoned. "No. I got this. I'll get rid of them and you'll prepare for take off," she said, seeing no other way, and walked out from jet.

"Damn it!" Logan grunted and glanced at Jane by his side who looked horrid by the size of his steely claws. He pulled them back in with an apologizing grimace. "Yeah, yeah. I know. Keep your pants up."

Emma mustered her courage while striding out, reprising her role as the female agent. They were on their own now and couldn't relay on the help of the Asgardians anymore. And she felt that she needed to buy them more time. If their mortal team with Logan and Jane would get caught, SHIELD would go seeking Thor and Loki frantically, turning the whole place upside down.

The armed agent in black uniform marched towards her and she needed to stop him before he would hit his face against the invisible wing of the x-jet that was larger and longer than what the Quinjet's wing appeared to be. The other guy was standing next the SUV on standby, finger on the trigger.

"A problem?" Emma asked, doing her best voice imitation of Natasha Romanoff, and hurried down the ramp and to him. "Agent Romanoff. SHIELD."

The agent moved to her, checking the jet with one quick look and registering that another Quinjet was landing nearby. "Ma'am, why are you not following the evacuation protocol?" the soldier asked, his sub-machine gun handing from a strap around his neck. "This landing area must be kept clear at all times. Only quick drop-offs of authorized personal allowed."

The draft of the landing jet waved her red hair, and she knew they had to get out of there as soon as possible. "Roger that," she said, recalling of using the military terms with her grandfather when she was a kid. She was nervous but she didn't let it show. She lifted her chin up as if she belonged to that place and knew what she was doing. "We'll get airborne without delay," she continued smoothly.

When moving backwards to the jet, her back bumped gently on the invisible wing of their aircraft and she cursed inwardly.

The agent glanced over his shoulder at the other jet that was already on the ground and turned back at her. "Ma'am, I'm going to have to ask you to identify yourself with bio-metric verification. Director Fury's orders," the man said and stepped closer, picking a portable, mobile phone-sized fingerprint scanner from his pocket. "Please. I need your fingerprint and voice authentication," he said handing the device towards her.

"Right…" Emma murmured and bit her lips, staring down at the gadget that could blow her cover, greatly hesitating to touch the thing. _Shit!_

"Agent Romanoff!" a shout of a strangely familiar voice called out for her and she lifted her gaze to see the real director of SHIELD treading across the apron from one jet towards the other, four armed agents in black tactical gears following him.

_Shit! Shit! Shit!_ The last time she saw this guy, he was ready to shoot her down. Emma took a deep breath and glared at the fake Quinjet behind her. She would never get the thing airborne fast enough for a successful flight. Too much was at stake here._ Okay! Just stay cool! Be the redhead bitch agent!_

She calmed her herself and faced the big boss, ignoring the agent who was asking her identifications. "Sir?"

"You brought the reinforcement, Romanoff?" Fury asked, stalking closer to Emma, the heavily armed men walking a few steps behind him.

"Yes, sir," Emma answered, hoping that her imitation of Romanoff would do.

Fury stopped and glanced around him. "Well, where is our _boy-wonder_?"

Emma had no idea whom they were talking about but assumed it was Ironman. She nodded towards the facilities. "There was a ride waiting. He went already in," she said, her voice partly covered under the sounds of the taking off Quinjet (the one that had brought Fury there).

The meddling agent swivelled towards the boss. "Your identifications, sir?" he asked handing his gadget at the boss-man.

As if he would have done it everyday, Nick Fury gave his required identifications in passing and then frowned at the agent. "What? That's it?" he grunted, bad-tempered, giving the man an evil eye as the agent thanked him. "Don't you dare to come asking me about my voice and fingerprints when there's an alien on the loose who can turn himself into goddamn anyone. I want retinal scans, passwords, DNA testing. All that high-tech shit we are paying for! And more men on the field! I will downgrade your ass scrubbing road kills off from the Road 66 if the Asgardian passes your lousy identifications! Is that clear?"

The agents gulped and nodded. "Yes, sir!" he said and gave a sidelong look at the fake redhead.

Emma lifted a brow like asking was he really going to require her meager identifications now. The agent saw it wiser to drop the testing on her part.

"Fingerprints?" Fury snorted, irritated.

The big boss headed to the SUV, and for a tiny moment, Emma believed she was off the hook but then the man turned back at her.

Fury looked at her somewhat suspiciously. "Is there somewhere else you'd rather be, agent Romanoff?"

"Um… I could think of plenty of other places," Emma gave a sideways look at the jet behind her. She could almost hear Logan cursing inside it.

"Yeah. Me too. Things could get nasty here today. But we've got a job to do. Let's go!" Fury said, making it sound like an order.

Emma stared at the armed agents in black, the SHIELD's very own tactical officers. They were six of them now plus Fury. In a flash, her imagination was already running wild as she tried to figure what to do. If she should beat a retreat into the jet, the agents would realize something was wrong and follow. And soon there would be a pile of chopped off body parts everywhere if Logan would get his hands on the men. On the other hand, if they'll get airborne, those fighter jets they had seen earlier would shoot them down. And then there was Loki and Thor, somewhere out there heading for the Tesseract. She needed to buy them more time and to Logan and Jane too.

_Sorry, dad! The whole group didn't have to get caught. Professor Xavier, if you can hear me, please help Logan and Jane away from here._

"Sure thing, sir."

Inside the jet, Logan stared outside, horrid. The big SUV drove away taking his daughter out of his reach with a bunch of armed soldiers.

"Fuck!" he barked in disbelieve, combing his fingers through his thick hair. He was pacing back and forth inside the cabin. "Fuck! What the hell was she thinking?"

Jane slumped down on one of the cabin seats, watching at the scary claw-man from a safe distance. She would have rather been with Emma. "What are we going to do now?"

"There is no way I'm leaving her there on her own. If they don't blow her cover earlier, then she'll be discovered the moment the E.T. boys are gone from this planet."

"We can't go in there!" Jane cried out. "This is SHIELD we are talking about. They mean business!"

Logan lifted his finger at her as they heard footsteps on asphalt drawing near.

"Is someone still there? Please, step outside to identify yourself!" the agent's voice asked from outside.

There was no response and the agent moved cautiously forward the ramp. Then, as if she had been shoved out, Jane emerged with running steps down the ramp.

"Hi!" she exclaimed with an uneasy smile and glowered indiscreetly at Logan who had pushed her out as a decoy. "Ah… I'm doctor Foster. I was asked to give a lecture about Einstein-Rosen bridge theory here today."

"A what?" the agent frowned and moved closed.

She lured him closed the ramp nervously. "You know? Wormholes. The theoretical passages linking unrelated points in space/time. Is this the right place? This is the Nevada NASA base, right?"

"All personnel and visitors must be evacuated immediately," the agent said very suspiciously.

The man was going for his communicator when Logan jumped on him and knocked him cold.

"Oh god!" Jane murmured uneasily checking her surroundings, hoping no one had seen that.

"Great job, doc!" Logan said dragging the agent inside the jet and Jane followed. "Now, do you think you could fly this thing?"

Jane grimaced unhappily. "Sorry, I don't hear voices in my head."

**… …**

After successfully infiltrating to the Joint Dark Energy Mission facility, Thor and Loki stepped into an elevator, leaving behind the first line of SHIELD's defense. Thanks to Loki's illusion, most people didn't even see them walking in and passing the security check ups.

Thor, in his fake form, turned at his brother and smiled as the elevator's door slid close, closing the Asgardians into a small safe bubble for a tiny moment. "I am impressed, brother. I must admit I did not believe this would work out so well."

"We are not there yet," Loki said in a grave tone with Fury's voice, giving the boss's full name to the voice recognition system and then the desired floor.

"Yes. But who would have thought that your magic would actually help us tremendously one day," Thor grinned and Loki snorted to that. Then the god of thunder cast more brotherly glance at Loki, his features recognizable even in his false face. "I cannot tell you enough how much it means to me that we are doing this together. It is just like the old days, right?"

"Yes," Loki answered, his eyes seeking a point to focus inside the lift. Broodingly he met his brother's gaze and spoke with his own voice. "When you said that Odin wishes my return," he begun but hesitated, heaving a difficult sigh. "Do you suppose he welcomes me back… as his son?"

Thor squeezed his brother's arm (taking note to that black leather coat suited Loki better than him anyway). "You are Odinson as much as I am. That will never change," he said with almost sentimental tone.

Returning to Asgard was drawing near with every step they had taken towards the Tesseract, and Loki was getting cold feet. Returning home, facing Frigga and Odin, facing all the people, the destruction he had left behind. It was all there waiting for him and he wasn't sure if he could deal with it. That's why he always had a plan B.

Thor watched at his quiet brother. He had used to see him keeping quiet so often that he had believed it to been trait of his character, but now he paid attention to that silence and it was telling him something. There must have been so much going on inside his head. He had nearly lost his brother once, he was not going to let that happen again.

Thor nudged him gently to the arm. "Come on now. Sons of Odin will return home with the Tesseract. They will give us heroes welcome. We celebrate weeks. The sooner we are there, the sooner you can return to Emma. Have I ever lied to you, Loki?"

The fake Fury's face had a sad expression. "I have," Loki admitted remorsefully.

"Whatever comes, we will face it together, my brother."

Loki smiled but turned at the door that was sliding open. _One more step closer to the Cube._ "It is easier for you to say," he said with the Fury's voice again.

**… …**

_'Joint Dark Energy Mission, Project Pegasus.' _Emma read the sign next of a big building their car had parked in front of. She spotted NASA and SHIELD logos everywhere, and more of the heavily armed agents marching and guarding the place like it would have been Fort Knox.

Everyone climbed off the SUV and the agents moved towards the great building while Emma remained next to the car, staring up at the building. She knew very well she was screwed the moment they'd discover her true identity and she's got a nasty feeling that it wouldn't take too long to happen. She checked her surroundings, trying to figure out her current location and the way back to the jet. _It was now or never if she hoped to flee._

_"Paska!"_ she murmured quietly the Finnish swear word she had heard Petteri Vuori using several times in Greenland and hoped it would pass as a Russian equivalent. "I –ah – forget something in the jet. You'll go ahead, sir. I'll catch up with you later."

Slamming the front door close, Fury watched down at the questioningly. "You're not planning to bail out on me, Natasha?" he asked, a few volume levels lower, almost sympathetically.

Emma forced a small smile. He used the woman's first name, so they must be closer than just a boss and an employee. Or then he already suspected something. "Of course not, sir. You know me. I'm going to see this through to the end."

"That's all I want to hear. So, I'm sure whatever it was, it can wait. Let's move in."

Seeing it as the only possible option, Emma was forced to follow the boss and his men through the security check-ups and across the facilities, trying to keep the appearance as long as possible. She pondered how long her luck would last. The further they went, the more armed forces she saw, and it was beginning to look like there was a small army securing the premises.

They were reaching an elevator when Fury stopped to answer his ringing mobile phone, at first staring at the screen and then looking expressionlessly at the redhead in front of him while answering;

"Talk to me!"

Emma stared back at him, keeping her act together and hoping that Loki and Thor had already found what they were looking for.

"Yeah. Hurry up. Get straight down. It's like Singapore again here," Fury told to the one on the other end and moved into the elevator, putting his phone back into his pocket.

His accompanying men were all going to pack into the same lift when Fury raised his hands in the air, stopping the whole bunch. "Whoa! You'll take the next one. This is for agent Romanoff and me. We've got some things to discuss," he said, waving his hand at Emma who would have so loved to stay off from this one.

Greatly hesitating, she stepped in, next to the boss. The door slid close, trapping her there with the man she found intimidating in several ways. For one thing, he was the director of SHIELD who had made it very clear he didn't like her. For second, he was much larger than she was, and he gave an impression that he was angry at all the time. _Nomen est omen!_ She could felt the insides of her forearms turning ice-cold just for being that close to him.

The elevator had a palm-scanner and a voice-controlling system and to activate it needed either voice recognition or a palm print. "Nicholas Joseph Fury," the big boss gave his full name and the lift-system greeted him with a robot voice. "B2," he continued.

With that, the lift was in motion and Emma guessed they were heading down.

She glanced at him slightly nervously and he beamed at her like a one-eyed, wicked pirate. He let out a small incredulous chuckle, facing the door and then taking a long breath. "Working for the field of espionage for almost four decades has taken my trust issues to a whole new paranoiac level," he admitted with a tiny shake of his head. "That's why I've got to hand it to you, you had me there for a small moment..." he said and turned back at her, "Emma Morgan."

_Shit! He knew!_ She was so fucked. She gulped, probably so loud that he heard it. There was no reason for playing dumb. "Look, I shouldn't even be here," she said cautiously with her own voice, clenching her hands into fists and moving backwards away from him, which wasn't very far. Her forearms were tingling, the icy claws just waiting to come out.

He had been picking up strange vibes from her from the moment they left the landing zone. And when another Natasha Romanoff had just called him, telling that she was bringing in Steve Rogers, that confirmed his doubts.

"That's damn right! But since you're here, you and me have some serious talking to do," Fury said with more intimidating voice, standing in the middle of the lift, ruling the small space they were in. Keeping a strict eye contact, he could predict her moves. "Now, don't you dare to go and pull our claws on me, _little girl_!" he warned. "You have any idea who I am?"

Emma felt the lift stopping in their destination floor. She kept her gaze focused at the man. "You're the guy who runs this whole joint."

"Yeah. I'm director of SHIELD. I'm the guy who can make your life so much easier or turn it into a pure nightmare. You keep following my orders and the two of us will be getting along just fine," Fury said and watched at her while she sneaked out from the elevator as soon as the door slid open.

He followed her out, into concrete-wall facilities with big glass windows on the other side of a hallway. "Now, you drop that fake form! You don't deserve it."

She grimaced uneasily. "Sorry, I can't. This will wear off, in time. _I hope._"

"Where's your beau?"

Emma shrugged innocently. "I don't know. I guess he already found what he was looking for and went home," she said, moving backwards and checking quickly her surroundings. There was no one else on the long, grey hallway. Her voice echoed inside it.

Fury smiled a slightly annoyed smile. "I don't believe that. Loki and Thor are here for the Tesseract, but they are not getting it. Not without me. We are prepared for them. Don't think this is the first time some aliens are trying to infiltrate these facilities." He let out an amused snort and walked closer and she kept moving backwards. "Now, let's talk about you, Ms Morgan. You were a little girl when you developed powers some people would die for. You went through rough times but you pulled through it. By the time we discovered you, we left you in peace for years."

Emma glared at him. "You don't have to remind me about my damn past. I lived it! I was there."

"In our Greenland reports you were descript as, and I quote, ' level-headed, unlikely to cause any problems'. The moment you hooked up with Loki and pulled you claws out, you became a problem. A problem I have to deal with," Fury said sounding bored and disappointed.

The man didn't even have pull his gun on her, she was threatened enough by his highly confident attitude. She was actually missing Coulson's more humane approach. "I'm not a problem. I'm really a very reasonable and nice person, and I don't want to be any part of this shit."

"Ever heard a saying; if you can't run with the big dogs, you're better stay on the porch? You're the puppy who chose to leave the cosy porch and now you're paying the price. You see, either you want it or not, you've become a part of a bigger world. The question is how you are going to fit in it."

"I'm not trying to fit in. I just want to get out."

"Too late. You don't get to make that decision. I know who your daddy is. I've seen what you're capable of. And _that_ is some nasty shit." He paused for a moment, stopped walking, and then continued in calmer tone; "You are not my top priority, but I'm willing to give you one more chance. Because I know, that's what Coulson would have wanted me to do. You help me to deal with Loki and Thor, and your life would turn out to be much nicer. Try to go against me, and your two-war-veteran grandfather Walter would go rolling over in his grave for being so disappointed with you."

Emma frowned angrily for that remark. Her grandfather had been her dearest childhood hero alongside Captain America. "You have no right to talk about my family! So, you've done your homework? Read a file? You still don't know a thing about me. And what come to Loki and Thor, they just wanna go back home. That's all!"

"That is bullshit and you damn well know it!" Fury gruffed. "It's time to step out from your bubblegum flavored world into the real one. If you haven't noticed, we are at the threshold of war here. And you are playing into enemy's hands. Look at that!" he grunted, pointing his finger at the big windows on her right side.

She took a cautious look through the glass into a big research hall/laboratory where lied a huge metallic, robot-looking thing in the middle of the room, surrounded by all sort of studying equipments. She took a wild guess what it was; the destroyer mentioned by Jane and Thor. She felt her heart racing by the sight of it.

"Your motherloving, peacemaking _green zealot_ sent that thing wreaking havoc in a small town in New Mexico over a week ago. It destroyed everything from its path. Imagine that ending up in New York, Chicago or Washington," Fury explained angrily and Emma turned back at him worried. "And yet that is still a drop in the ocean comparing the damage Loki could cause with the Tesseract. If he would get his hands on it, do you honestly believe he would settle for being a good boy, returning home and getting his ass kicked there? Or, I could be wrong. Maybe they planned this whole thing together. He'll go home with the big brother and they'll come back next time with an army."

Emma said nothing. She didn't know what to think, but she wanted to believe in Loki and his good intentions. Sending the destroyer in Earth belonged into his past mistakes. She glanced at that thing again. It looked monstrous. She could understand why SHIELD was so pissed off because of him, though.

"Loki is… changed," she said in a silent voice.

"I wouldn't bet on it." Fury stepped closer. He lowered his voice, sounding sympathetic as he spoke; "You strike me as the type of a person who wants to do the right thing. That's the impression I got from the reports, from Greenland and from agent Coulson, concerning you. I knew agent Coulson, better than anyone. He wouldn't have waste his hours with you unless he wouldn't have believed in you."

He waited a while to let her taking in his choice of words. Speaking about Coulson in the past tense clearly seemed to bother her. _It was time to drop the bomb and hope for the best. _"It was a very heart-warming voice message you left for Coulson. Too bad, he never got it. I know he would have appreciated your concern."

She didn't like the sound of that. _It almost sounded as if Coulson was…_ "What do you mean?"

Fury looked straight into her eyes. "Phil Coulson is dead. And I mean for real, not in some phony way like you suggested. It wasn't a bad idea though. But he never received your message."

Emma only stared at him as if she would have froze, dismayed, unbelieving his words, pondering what could have happened. "Why? How?" She swallowed. "Hydra?"

"You wish. Why you look so surprised? Loki didn't bother to tell you?"

Suddenly she felt very small and discouraged. "Tell me what?"

"Loki killed Phil Coulson, in a way. He did something to my best agent, causing him to lose his mind and dying from inside. Coulson was the sharpest man I knew, who always held it together no matter what. He was the only one of us who got through to you, and I bet Loki didn't like that."

Her voice was trembling, as she said, "No… I don't believe that. We left him safe, unharmed… You can't blame this on Loki. That's a lie."

Fury took a step closer. "Coulson died after being shot by his own colleagues. The man just snapped, starting to firing at us and shouting that it was what Loki wanted him to do. I saw it. I was there. I had worked with him for 16 years. He was the only one I trusted. My right hand guy. And I'm telling you, that wasn't the Coulson I knew anymore." His gaze was stern and voice remorseful as he continued. "Three shots, one in the chest. Phil J. Coulson died from blood loss before we got him to the hospital, just like Scott Davis died in Greenland. He was a man who lived his live with honor, but there was nothing honorable in the way he died. He was on a suicide mission and Loki sent him to it."

His harsh words hammering in her head, she could saw that image in her mind again, Loki stabbing Scott Davis in the darkness of the glacier. As she recalled, Coulson had told her about Scott's death. He had bled to death. Thinking about that same fate to the only one, who had stood up for her, made her throat tightening. From the beginning, he had been nothing but understanding towards her, never lost his cool with her even he might had have a reason for it. It didn't make sense. She had never wanted him to get hurt. However, Loki would have killed him in his cell if she hadn't stopped him. When she had yelled at Loki to stop hurting him, he had relented so easily and it made her wonder… _No. It couldn't be true!_

She was unaware of the tears that roll down on her cheeks. "It can't be…" she whispered.

"You imagined him sitting on his ass under a palm tree on some beach and sipping a cold drink with a tiny umbrella?" That's what Coulson was probably doing at the moment in Aruba, and thinking about it annoyed Fury, giving some authentic grumpiness to his voice. "No. I have to admit I didn't believe your insane Hydra-talks until you by a miracle lured those bastards out into the open. I was going to send Coulson somewhere safe but Loki got to him first."

"Loki can't control minds like that," she said weakly, reasoning things to herself.

"How well do you think you know that cover-boy from hell?"

With her mind already churning, that question made her angry. "Way better than I know you!"

"Think again! He's an alien, a master manipulator, a shapesifter. I don't think he even looks like that for real. He's a brutal con man to the core. So, he sweet-talked you? Fooled you? It happens to the best of us. It's no shame to admit that you made a mistake with him, but to continue that same stupid-ass mistake is." He moved closer and there was less than six feet between them two. "Why do I bother to talk to you when I should be out there seeking out for two aliens who are trying to steel a weapon capable for creating mass destruction? When he still had his wits, Coulson asked me to make sure you'll stay safe. He was ready to take a personal risk, hiding you from Hydra and training you to become an agent. Because he believed you could be a damn good one."

Loki hadn't fooled her. He couldn't have. Emma wiped her eyes, a lump rising in her throat. All the talks she had with Coulson was returning into her mind. The understanding he had shown towards her felt now unbearable to deal with. She didn't want to hear anymore. "Please, stop…"

Fury had no plans to go easy on her. He knew, in some point she would break and he would have her. This is what he did; he took capable people and talked them to do what he wanted them to do.

"What we do, is not just a nine to five job. It is a way of life, a commitment, a will to do something that matters. We protect lives. That's what SHIELD is for. The team we work with is like a family. We look after each other. And Coulson wanted to welcome you into that family."

He said the f-word, _family,_ and her tears were pouring down uncontrollably. That was the toughest lecturing she had ever heard. She had always been very emotional and it was her curse. "Stop it!" she cried out, shoving her claws out fiercely, unable to control the shake of her hands. "I said stop!" she shouted and took a challenging step forward. The short-lived pain in her hands and arms was nothing compared the pain she felt inside for the death of agent Coulson she felt being partly guilty of.

Fury's pistol was aimed at her head faster than she had taken another step towards him and she stopped moving, giving him a daring look.

He looked offended by her act and blinked his good eye, staying calm. "It hurt, doesn't it? To know that a good man died because you made a wrong call," he talked behind his gun. "You see, one thing funny about Coulson was that he was an old-fashioned guy. He liked to believe there were heroes among us, people who were destined to do great things, and he believed that you could be one of them. So, what's it gonna be, Emma Morgan? Are you gonna let him down or are you gonna start to live up to his expectations?"

She faltered, closing her eyes and squeezing her fists. "I can't…" she whispered in a pained voice.

"You can't? I don't' get it. What did Loki do to you, other than dragged you down with him? The man is a menace!"

Retracting her claws, she opened her eyes. "He saved my life!" she cried out as if it had been her only defense.

"Okay," Fury relented, lowering his pistol and putting it back into his belt holster under his long coat. But then he pulled another one on her like it would have been one smooth move. "Clearly you're not capable of making difficult decisions at the moment," he said and pulled the trigger, just like that. It made only a quick, soft sound.

Having no time to react to the gun firing at her, Emma was starting to feel light-headed. It felt like something was biding her under her left collarbone, and she pulled a small tranquilizer dart off from her. Her whole chest was getting numb and the feeling was spreading all over her body. She stared at the dart and then at the man, the quick realization hitting her. "Fuck..."

"Night night! We'll talk later. There's somewhere else I need to be right now."

Her legs had given in and she was barely standing on her knees, her head spinning and consciousness begging for a timeout. She forced her eyes staying open, seeing the man only as a dark shadow in front of her. A surge of adrenaline rushed thought her system as if washing away the sedatives and she wasn't even aware of her own actions after that.

Being cock-sure she was out of the game, Fury approached her. With that amount of sedatives, one could have easily taken down a full-grown man. The same stuff had put her cold in the Helicarrier a few days ago. "Your claws belong to me now, _puppy_," he smirked watching down at her and picking up his mobile.

One hard, well aimed punch and she knocked that smirk off his face and air out of his lunges. The man bent down in agony, dropping on the floor next to her on one knee. She had gone for the groin but wasn't sure where she had really hit him because there were too many of him in her vision. The gun was at her face again but she went for it like a rabid dog, biting his wrist as long as he dropped the weapon.

In her half sedated state, to her it looked she was watching everything in slow motion, but it all happened as fast as a struck of lightning. She had the gun, and she was lying a few feet away from him on the floor, pointing at him with the weapon with blurry eyes and he was aiming at her with another one of his.

"Oh, hell no!" he cried out in unbelieving, indignant tone, sitting on his ass on the floor, his trigger finger misbehaving and his whole aiming arm going numb. Weakly he plucked a dart from his right upper forearm with left hand, noticing that there were two more darts stuck on his torso. With that, the big boss was out cold, slumping to the floor.

Emma lied a while on her side, staring at the unconscious man, and holding on to her gun. She noticed that her finger was still having a workout on the trigger, the gun giving quiet noise as the pressurized air was released as she kept clicking the trigger. The shots had ran out and it looked like she had been trying to sedate the whole wall behind him. She lifted her finger from the trigger and she had to force her body to cooperate with her will, pulling herself into a sitting position. Her neck felt strangely sore. He must have been punching her pressure points without getting the desired effect.

She spat the taste of his blood from her mouth, threw the gun away and kept staring at the man, slapping herself in the face to stay focus. "Hey, boss! Didn't Coulson tell you that I adapt to every shit that comes along?" she shouted at him angrily, sounding like a drunk. There was no response, unless some light snoring wasn't counted.

She crawled to him and took his gun, checking the magazine and finding real bullets in it. "Shit! Were you really going to shoot me with this? Are you out of you fucking mind? This shit only makes me angry. And I bet you don't like me when I'm angry."

She checked his pulse, removed the darts, and rolled him to his side in the recovery position. No one else was going to die because of her again. Staggering onto her feet, she put the gun to her belt, and took a deep breath, her gaze stopping on the destroyer on the other side of the big window.

"Loki," she sighed ruefully, thinking about what Fury had told her about Coulson's death. "Loki, what have you done?"

Her focus switched to her own reflection in the glass. She was still in the redhead form, so Loki had to be still on Earth, right in the same building with her. She was never going to forgive him if he was behind Coulson's death. And if that was true, what else was he capable of, that beautiful, divine prick. The Tesseract! What was he really up to with it? Was she just a stupid idiot for trusting him and loving him?

She clenched her jaw and dropped her gaze down at the sleeping man in her feet, realizing she probably wasn't getting anywhere on her own in that place without the right identification. "Great! I guess it's just you and me, boss. We've got an Asgardian to find!" She let out a sad, desperate laugh for the shitty situation she had gotten herself into, wiping her wet cheeks, being still a bit high on the sedatives.

_It's was better that agent Coulson didn't see her now, because he would have gotten a shit stroke._


	33. 33 Iron sharpens iron

_"Unclear authentication. Access denied,"_ a robot tone informed bluntly and the same message appeared on a small screen of a retinal scanner. It was the second try and the third failed one would seal off the section they were in.

Loki clenched his jaw and drew back from the scanner, cold dismay on his face. "Damn!" he murmured gravely upset, unbelieving that they journey had stalled now, when they had gotten already so close.

They had moved in with extreme caution, his illusions smoothening their way. Only once they had taken down a few guards who had become too suspicious about them, but no lives were taken.

Thor's confusion turned into a harsh frown. "What? No, no! Do not tell me you cannot fool their security system?" He watched at his brother in the fake form, that silence of Loki beginning to bother him. His hand clasped Loki's forearm as though pulling him back on Earth from the doubts of his mind. "Loki? You can do this."

Loki shook his head, finding it impossible that the mortals had crafted a system he couldn't break. _Was it the lack of his skills or was his mind so occupied with the thought of leaving Emma surviving on her own, that he couldn't pull it through? Maybe it simply was that the system couldn't be fooled by magic._ "One more failed attempt, and their system would lock us in," he reasoned, they both speaking nearly in whispering volume.

They stood before thick armored doors, on the bottom floor of the facilities, in the most secured section of the base. Only a couple of more doors between them and the object they desired.

Patience wasn't Thor's virtue. He squeezed the mobile phone/Mjölnir in his palm, giving it and the doors a glance. "Maybe I should give it a try," he said, lifting his weapon for a hit.

Loki stopped his brother, his hand on Thor's shoulder. "No, don't! You will..."

He hadn't even finished his sentence when the doors were sealed with a door coming down from the ceiling. Behind them, another set of doors closed them on the blocked end of the long hallway. They both turned around, finding themselves trapped just as Loki had feared. Immediately the space was beginning to fill with misty gas.

"Just brilliant!" Loki grunted staring down at his feet at the smoke-like gas that was rising fast. "Now they know we are here!"

Thor juggled with his mobile/hammer. "Then there is no point of hiding anymore," he pondered aloud and the brothers exchanged significant glances.

Thor called out for the powers of his hammer, the electric-blue sparkles turning him back to his own self, while Loki's appearance returned with the smooth glimmering wave of his green and gold.

The gas kept coming until the whole place was filled with it from top to bottom and that happened rather quickly. They watched at the gas around them, pondering what was the purpose of it, since that seemed to have no effect on either of them.

Thor raised a brow, holding on his hammer and Loki only nodded, offering the door to him and stepping out of the way. "Go ahead and smash. It's all yours, brother."

Thor grinned a lifted his hammer. _Finally some action._

Next thing the ventilation turned on, sucking the gas out from the space. And noises, coming from the closed doors in the middle of the hallway behind them, drew their attention. Someone was coming at their way and they both prepared for a fight, Loki summoning his last throwing knife in hand.

"Remember, no killing!" Thor reminded.

They were expecting that army they had seen on their way down there but when the doors opened, they didn't see the hallway full of agents armed to the teeth. No. They saw only one person standing, a woman. And that was agent Romanoff, being slightly out of breath as if she'd been jogging a mile. Or, she looked like her, her pistol extended towards them. Next to her on the floor against the wall sat Fury, unconscious, his head drooping.

"Ah… Natasha?" Thor said the name with a cautiously warning tone. "We wish no to harm you."

Loki conjured his knife away, gaping at her in a bit of a shock, recognizing his own illusion when he saw it. "Emma?" he sighed in a disbelieving voice, waving his hand towards her and stripping her fake form, the golden glimmering wave revealing her true appearance. If almost felt like his concern of her welfare had brought her there, but he wasn't overjoyed of seeing her at the moment. _She being there would spoil everything!_

"Emma?" Thor echoed, looking as much puzzled as Loki was, and suddenly worried. "What has happened? Where… where is Jane?"

She shrugged ignorantly, holding the gun with both hands, aiming at them. "Jane went on a date with my dad. She couldn't resist his bestial charm. Sorry, buddy, but I don't think she's getting back with you anymore."

Thor dropped his hammer and his jaw. "W-what? Oh… you were making a jest? She is safe, right?"

Loki's face filled with sincere wonder and uneasiness for her unexpected showing up. She shouldn't have been there. She should have been flying away from the place. He couldn't think up any reason good enough for her to risk her life by coming after him into the SHIELD's fortress, but there had to be one, a really good one, and he could tell she was messing around with Thor. "Emma, what happened? What are you doing here?" he asked with growing concern, taking a few steps closer to her. "You should no be here."

Thor glanced quickly at the director, having an idea. "She brought Fury. Maybe we could…"

Emma fired the gun and it barked surprisingly loudly inside the long concrete hallway. The bullet struck the steel door behind the Asgardians on the level of their heads, rebound on Thor's back and then dropped on the floor. It was enough to stop Loki on his tracks and all still as if he would have suddenly turned into a statue, leaving him utterly confused. He could tell Emma was seriously beside herself. But for what?

Thor flinched with the minor pinch in his back. "Hey! What is the matter with you? It is us!"

"No one touches Fury!" she declared but looked visibly shaken by firing the gun at them, sorry molding her expression, her hands trembling. "Sorry. My hands are still shaking. It seems I can't control it." She heaved a troubled sigh, and lowered the gun slowly, having no idea what she was doing. She gave them a short, messy summary how she had ended up in the building.

While getting down there, she had mulled it over and over in her head, reasoning things to herself and her unconscious captive. She had dragged Fury with her like a human key card, he involuntarily granting her access to the top secured levels. The effect of the sedatives had cleared off but her head didn't feel any clearer, as she stood now in front of the Asgardians.

"I got another job offer just now. One of those once-in-a-lifetime-opportunities, you know," she said, absent-minded and nodded towards the sleeping director Fury with a helpless smirk. "I'm not sure yet. We're still discussing about the terms and stuff with the boss here." She stared at Loki accusingly, as he was treading slowly to her in his graceful manner, and she continued with trembling voice. "Telling the truth, it's a bit hard to find common ground with someone, if you can't trust one another. Right?"

Loki stopped in front of her. "What are you talking about?" he sighed, hearing her accusing tone. He hadn't given her any reason to be so upset with him, not anymore. Whatever reason it was that had brought those tears in her eyes had to be severe. "Emma, it is not safe for you to be here…" he begun gently, his hands going for her shoulders.

As if her hand would have had a will of its own, she slapped him hard across the face, anger and uncertainty reflecting from her eyes. Then disquiet lifted its head in her heart as she met his harshly questioning emerald gaze for that sudden, unfair treatment against him.

Her sharp breathing smoothened, as his big hands settled on her shoulders. "I saw your toy, Loki. They have that, _that freaking_ Destroyer here. I guess Jane was right. You were asking for that slap in the face. But I don't blame you for it. That thing and whatever you did with it, it belongs into your past. I know," she said with a sad voice, staring into his beautiful eyes that were demanding answers as much as hers were. Hesitating, she touched his chest, letting her palm rest against his heart over his golden gorget, her other hand holding the gun. "Is there anything else you should tell me?"

An aloud sigh passed his lips as Loki scowled down at her, still puzzled and slightly offended by her act under his brother's eyes. However, he found man enough in him for not to condemn her for it, ignoring Thor's presence. "About?"

Emma blinked. She didn't want to believe Fury, but what he had told her, had the Trickster's trademark all over it and she wanted to give Loki a fair chance to come clean.

"About agent Coulson. He's dead," she told in a monotone voice.

Loki fought an urge to ask should that have meant anything to him because it seemed to mean a great deal to her for some strange reason he couldn't understand.

"What?" Thor asked moving closer to them. "How?"

Loki snorted, not completely meanly, side-glancing at his brother. Then his face lowered closer to hers with a questioning frown. "A man dies and you automatically assume I had something to do with it?"

She kept staring into his eyes. "Do you?"

His hold on her shoulders grew tighter. "No, of course not. Surely this cannot be the solely reason why you so foolishly rushed after me?" he asked in disbelieve and his gaze pierced straight into her core. "Is it?"

It took great effort to stand her ground, unyielding, under his dark, magnetic charm when all of her wanted to give in to him. She loved this man. She cared for him more than she cared for anyone else and those feelings couldn't simply been turned off. She knew she didn't want to live without his touch and he should have done some utterly messed up, vicious stuff before her love for him would have died.

It pained her to question him. She hadn't wished their meeting again would be like this.

"Fury told me you did something to Coulson, to his mind. I want the truth, Loki. You promised me last night that there are no more secrets between us. I deserve to know the truth… _about everything_," she said, her voice becoming nearly a whisper at the end.

Loki gasped, as if that would have been another slap in his face, a one that actually hurt. "What?"

"Loki?" Thor warned in a grinding tone of voice.

Waiting for Loki's confession, she had closed the whole world outside her, not paying attention to Thor's warning words or anything else around her. What she saw was something darker flashing in his eyes and twisting his beautiful face.

In a heartbeat his grip on her was harder, aggressive even, his other hand going for her neck, and she didn't noticed that they were moving until he pushed her up against the wall. Her backside from head to heels took the hit, his hand cupping the back of her neck. The gun had dropped from her hand. She gasped with difficulty, having no chance to fight him off, as his whole length pressed against hers. _Had that been enough to antagonize him?_

She heard the first shots and then the racket of the sudden gun firing and the bouncing ricochets filled the air, deafening her ears. With only a glimpse of the corner of her eye, she saw a group of armed agents on the other end of the long hallway, firing at them. Then her vision was blocked. She felt Loki's tall body glued on hers, sheltering her, protectively and strong, his arms wrapped around her head.

His left temple against her right, he whispered into her ear over the shooting, "You shouldn't have come here, _my precious fool_. You shouldn't have come…"

She sensed fear in his voice that made her press herself tighter against his broad frame as if he was her shield on a blazing battlefield. It felt like that war Fury had mentioned just started, but in Loki's arms, she felt safe. Covering her and taking the shots, his breathing was hot on her neck, bringing the fervent memories of their last night in her mind. Her body responded to his sharp breathes and his intense embrace as though her lady parts would have been ready to move out and live with him. The rest of her was trembling with adrenaline and fear of the battle because she didn't want to set her beast-side out, ending up hurting others and herself.

A powerful male voice carried over the shooting, shouting to 'cease fire' and something about Fury. The racket ended, leaving the hallway hauntingly quiet with thin concrete dust floating in the air.

Loki lifted his head to check their situation. With a quick look there were at least a dozen armed men and more appeared to be coming. He recognized the real agent Romanoff pulling out her guns, but not that tall man with her, who stood out in the crowd with his strange outfit with stars and stripes and a mask. Loki snorted to him, and glanced at his left. The sealed doors were open, as Thor had used Fury as a human key card in the retinal scanner and shouted them to move in.

Loki's eyes met with Emma's to check that she was fine, his hands running over her head and along her arms. He used the opportunity and rushed in with her, protecting her and carrying her like a child in his arms, and Thor followed them with Fury. And once inside the next room, but not safe yet, Thor passed the sleeping man to his brother like an unwanted rag-doll right after Loki let go of Emma lowering on her feet next to the wall.

"Thor, stand down! Give up while you can and we can still talk about this!" Natasha Romanoff shouted.

Standing in the doorway, his focus on SHIELD people, Thor took note that their following party wasn't hurrying after them as he had assumed. Either they were afraid or then… "They are holding back. Loki, this could be a trap."

"You think?" Emma cried out and leaned against the wall behind her, staring at further away at a remote controlled weapon systems in the hall only 30 feet away from them. That looked like something she could only imagine to belong on top of a military truck or a tank.

The doors in front of Thor slid closed, trapping them inside the place with the nasty-looking weapon that seemed to become alive and aiming at them as if someone was playing videogames with their lives.

With a quick perceptive sweep of gaze over the great warehouse-like space, Loki had already gotten their bearings. "I see it. Thor, there are three automatic weapons. Take them down!" he said, passing the rag-doll man to Emma.

Actually, he had been planning to let Fury collapse on the floor but Emma managed to clutch on the man before he hit the floor and his weight nearly pulled her down with him.

"Stop tossing him! He's a human being…" Emma cried out, annoyed, but then Loki pushed her down too and she went down with ease, tumbling over the man. "Hey!"

"Stay down!" Loki ordered, his commanding tone of voice stripping her willing to resist.

He bore down on her as he squatted and hunched his body over hers when the heavy shooting begun again. Emma grunted as he pushed her hard against Fury and they were like a human sandwich piled up on the floor, he covering her head and upper body. All she could think of was that he was so strong that he could have pushed her down with only one finger even she would have fight back with all she got. But she didn't want to fight back. He was protecting her time and time again, his body heavily on top of her, his green cape eclipsing her sight.

The remote controlled guns fired at Loki's illusions, as there suddenly appeared to be dozens of Loki's in the place hoaxing the weapons and giving Thor a chance to take them down. Thor swung his hammer at the weapons, destroying them completely one by one while Loki covered Emma and unintentionally also the SHIELD director.

The shooting was over before it had properly begun, and Loki's hold eased on her, his hands coming on her shoulders. Emma lifted her head to look at him over her shoulder, seeing that he was thankfully fine. His gaze met hers again and his hand brushed her cheek gently as if asking was she all right, before he helped her on her feet. That single touch of his, that had the power to calm her even on a war zone. And she held on to him, just wanting to climb into his embrace, her heart still racing wild.

Not even the successful team play wipe the grimness from Thor's face as the brothers glanced at each other again. With a few strides, Thor split the short distance between them. "Loki, did you do any harm to Coulson? I want to know because she seems to have a reason to doubt you," he asked with his thundering tone, returning to the subject left unfinished.

"Just… just hang on now! I didn't say he did it for sure!" Emma exclaimed with an uncertainty, wavering with her doubts. She had gone there for seeking answers not with a vengeance. She didn't want to break their anew found brotherly connection, fearing that she'd been all wrong that she had been duped by Fury. She feared that her own doubts would derail Loki emotionally again and that's when things could get really nasty.

Ignoring her, Thor's hand was around Loki's neck, holding on him firmly. "Answer me, brother! Did you cause his death? Do your poisonous games never end?"

"Don't you dare to hurt him, Thor!" Emma snarled, taking a step closer to them, one hand grabbing on Thor's forearm and another on Loki's shoulder. "Fury only said something about brainwashing. Hell! I don't know…"

Both men only side-glanced at her and kept staring each other in the eye as though she was just a puny mortal, _which she pretty much was._

Loki's look was rueful in his brother's grip, those unjustified suspicions hurting him. For once, he didn't deserve this kind of treatment and doubts. He took a breath and swallowed, his face solemn, his eyes sincere.

"Believe me; if that man is dead, it is not of my making. Brainwashing, you said, my dear Emma?" A small sad smile flickered on his lips, unable to hide the pain in his eyes, challenging her to think it over. "If I had a power to alter the free will of a man, don't you think I would be sitting on a throne already?" he asked her and it made her think hard. Then he turned to Thor. "I have nothing to do with it. I swear to you _on Frigga's life_." When he said the name of his adoptive mother, his voice quivered. So significant was that desperate vow of his.

Staring at him, Thor took in those words as if they were a sacred oath, and nodded, his blue eyes asking for forgiveness, his grip on him becoming softer nearly as a caress. He knew, Loki would never swear on their mother's life only to betray that oath. As far as he knew, Loki didn't possess a power over mortal's minds.

"Brother, get the Tesseract!" Thor said, letting go of him and moved backwards closer to the door, as it seemed to be opening again. "Emma, you go with him! I will hold them back as long as I can."

After all his mischievous schemes and foul play, that had sounded like _'Loki, I believe you'_ to the trickster god, and the meaning of it was even emphasized as Thor trusted him alone with the Cube. It almost felt like they would have been equals, true brothers again.

Being capable for only nodding back to his brother, Loki turned at Emma once more, offering his hand to her with a pleading look. "I cannot force you to believe me. I only wish you would."

Having no time for hesitating, as the doors were opening, she took his hand. His vow on Frigga's life had given an overwhelming impact against her qualms and doubts and making cold shivers running along her spine. She knew deep inside he would never hurt her but the others may not be that lucky.

Squeezing her hand softly, Loki smiled, a serious smile, and together they picked up Fury from the floor.

"Be careful with him, all right," she begged, letting Loki carry the man.

Thor scowled at her as she and Loki were already running forward inside the large warehouse. "For you sake, Emma, I hope Jane is fine. You swore to me that you will take her safe from here and here you still are. If something happens to her, you will be answering it to me."

His warning words reached her ears as she was rushing with Loki along one of the long aisles between the high shelves. That's what he had said but to her it had sounded more like an angry growl _'don't ever fuck with the Asgardians!'_

One worried look over her shoulder and she saw the group of armed agents moving in through the opened doors, agent Romanoff and one strangely familiar-looking tall fellow leading them. It only took her a second to put together where she had seen that patriotic _stars and stripes_ uniform and the half mask. The last time she had seen someone wearing something like that had been in her grandfather's old black and white newsreels from the early 1940's. Then the images from her long lost trading card entered her mind with a one single flash of his star –shield, turning her back into a little girl for a moment with awe.

_Captain Rogers?_ Oh, she needed to get her more of those sedatives if the hallucinations afterwards were so awesome. (The possibility of the real Captain America actually being there didn't even cross her mind.)

_Captain Steve freaking Rogers … in real colors! Shit! It was good stuff!_

**… …**

While placing all his trust on his unpredictable adoptive brother with the Cube, Thor prepared to face the SHIELD people and hoped that Emma would keep Loki on the right track.

He dropped his hammer and watched at Natasha and the men who regrouped in front of the entrance, their weapons aiming at him. "I do not want to fight you. Natasha, we only want the Tesseract and then we will be gone," he informed calmly in a conciliatory tone.

Her pistols aimed between his eyes, Natasha stared at him coldly. "Not gonna happen, Thor."

"You don't want the Tesseract, sir. It will only bring you trouble," Steve Rogers said speaking from experience while moving closer. "The last time I saw a man touching it, he disappeared before my eyes."

"Yes, that was the plan," Thor murmured with a smirk. "I am sorry. We have not met. I am Thor Odinson. Prince of Asgard. The god of thunder," Thor said to the man, spreading his hands as if asking him to introduce himself.

Not impressed by the fancy titles, Steve Rogers moved forward. "Captain Rogers. I'm here to make sure that the Tesseract won't fall into the wrong hands. Step down, sir."

Natasha was worried about Fury whom she couldn't see while scanning the huge place, neither she see the Trickster god. If they couldn't stop the Asgardians then damn right they would at least try to stall them as long as Ironman gets there. Natasha knew that Tony Stark should have been there at any time with his improved gizmos.

"Cap, he's stalling. We need to find Fury. You deal with him. I'll go after Loki," Natasha said to Steve.

She ran straight towards Thor and then bypassed him easily with her fearless, cheetah-like agility, leaving the thunder god gaping after her as if they had been just playing tag and she had gotten away.

"Natasha, do not make this any worse!" Thor shouted after her when she managed to slip away from him and he was going to go after her.

A strong hand stopped Thor and it belonged to Steve Rogers. Captain was almost as tall as Thor was and he stood there holding him like a bouncer, ready to escort him out. "No, you shouldn't make this any worse to yourself," Steve said as the thunder god turned towards him.

Thor's glanced at the mortal's hand that held him like it would have been an insult, a mere provocation, and smiled wryly. "And, you really should not touch me! Did you not hear who I am?"

"I heard you're the guy who broke the Theodore Roosevelt Bridge in DC. And I'm not very forgiving type towards those who harm my country."

**... ...**

After reaching the other end of the long warehouse, Emma and Loki heard the sounds of battle that carried all the way from the other side as Thor and Steve's debate took a turn to a more physical level. The noises of things breaking, while the heroes were smashing each other against the walls, shelves and crates, kept Emma on alert.

She followed Loki jogging through the maze-like aisles. He seemed to know where they were going and they stopped in front of a very large door that looked like it belong to a bank vault with very complex looking locking system.

She took a deep breath and heaved it to steady her slightly panting breathing while watching at him, as he studied the mechanism of the door and dragged Fury with him.

"Loki, I'm sorry," she said in a regretful tone, looking into his eyes as he turned at her. "I'm sorry I doubted you for a second. I shouldn't have. But all the things he told me..." She glanced at Fury, still mulling it over what he had told her. "About Coulson's death, about the destroyer and the Tesseract... It just got me so freaking confused. I feel so bad for the way I spoke to you, and the all wrong timing… I didn't mean Thor hear to it…"

"All is well, my love, as long as you believe me," he said softly, caressing her with his voice as though they wouldn't have been in a dreadful hurry and in a soon-to-be boiling point of SHIELD's fight-back.

She smiled back at him in an uncertain way, weakly, touching his arm as he lifted Fury closer to the retinal scanner. She so much wanted to believe him. "I believe you. You wouldn't lie to me...?"

It came out without thinking. The last sentence sounded like a question, and she stared up into his eyes.

Loki met her stare with a loving, reassuring smile. "You know I would not lie to you, Emma."

The system gave a short blunt sound and informed,_ "Restricted access. Password required, Director Fury."_

They glanced at each other and Emma thought that was it. They wouldn't get in and maybe in some level it was better that way. Then to her surprise, Loki punched in the code.

_"Access granted. Welcome, Director Fury."_

Loki beamed at her contently while stepping aside from the huge doorframe and pulling her with him, waiting the thing to open. "It was a wise move to bring Fury with you. We may have not made this far without his _cooperation_."

The heavy bolts of the massive lock were retracting one by one.

Emma gaped at him, puzzled. "H-how did you know his password?"

"Professor Xavier told me everything."

The massive door was unlocked and it sounded like a spaceship's airlock had opened, before it slowly turned wide open. The door itself was the impressive 4 feet thick, and the vault behind it was as long as a small shipping container and 14 yards width. The whole place looked spotless, sterile, white and metallic-grey with full shelves on the back wall and several sized lockers on both sidewalls. Everything inside the vault was in a perfect order and the air coming out felt dry, cool and stagnant.

"There," Loki sighed whispering, already seeing it. "On the back. In that silver casket."

This was the worst timing ever for having second thoughts, but knowing that soon it would be too late, she stepped before him in the huge doorway, her small frame hardly blocking his way.

"The Tesseract, Loki?" she asked uneasily, hating to ask it but she just had to. She lifted her hands up, looking miserably sorry. "What are you going to do with it? _For real?_ Please. I need to hear it from you."

Loki's face clouded with that questioning tone of her voice. He let go of the unconscious man and let him fall on the floor, staring at Emma in the eye, amused by her worried reaction for the man's sake.

He moved close to her calmly as he spoke. "Is this doubt I still hear in you voice? Did you not just say you believe me? Yet you question me again? I told you. The Tesseract belongs to Asgard and we need it to get back." His voice was deep with that dark undertone, as though he had been trying to convince it to himself as much as to her, since his own purposes had varied ever since they said goodbye in the jet. "The Professor exchanged his information for a visit inside my head. Emma, I let him read my mind to prove my intentions."

She didn't move. She just blinked, astonished. "What? Why?"

"I did it for you, my love." His gaze was studying and his voice (even to his own surprise) became warm again. "What have I done to deserve your doubts? Do you not trust me anymore?"

"Never have and never will! You're too shady character for my taste."

That interfering statement Natasha Romanoff gave made them both turning towards her voice just before she opened fire. Emma didn't really even see her behind the thick door that blocked her vision.

There wasn't many who could sneak upon the trickster god and her stealthy attack took him by a surprise but he didn't stay brooding it over. Hastily, he pushed Emma inside the vault into cover from the bullets with one hand, underestimating his own strength while doing so. Unprepared for it, she flew against the sidewall with a grunt, getting the wind knocked out of her, and landed on the floor on her knees, struggling to take a breath.

**… …**

Without thinking any other possibility, Natasha ran straight at the menace god, her pistols extended and she emptied her magazines at him mercilessly. Loki growled like a pissed off giant and strode towards her regardless of the bullet rain that barely left a scratch on him, his face like a vicious mask.

When her shots ran out, she threw her guns at him to only noticed, that they went straight through his illusion and she quickly focused to her surroundings, hoping to seek him out before he would get her.

"Stop playing your cheap tricks on me and show yourself! Or are you afraid of a girl?" Natasha shouted for provocation, readying her bracelet tasers.

She heard running steps drawing near from behind and with only a glimpse she registered it was Loki. Her instincts took control and she pounced at him, circling him with a fast spin and shoving her electrocuting bracelets at his neck, releasing the maximum charge. The Trickster growled and dropped immediately on his knees and passed out at her feet.

Before a sated smile of a sweet revenge manifested on her lips, a golden/green glow swept over the man, revealing a black tactical uniform. Her short-lived victory turned into a shock when she realized she had electrocuted a fellow agent who had been following on her tail. _She should have known!_ Clint had told her everything about Loki's tricks.

She turned and saw four more agents running to her aid, and behind them, the trickster god emerged with a devilish grin. It was his move next.

**… …**

Inside the vault, Emma heard the thunder-like gun fight coming from outside and she fear more for the agent's sake than Loki's, knowing he was capable of tearing her apart. She hated that bitch who had made her growing her claws but it didn't give her a reason to wish her death.

She felt the hot flash of pain in her back as she stretched her spine and took a cautious breath. Then it was gone as her body recovered from the injury. Loki had thrown her in so hard that fleetingly she thought of him being mad at her, but then the roaring sounds of the shooting begun and expelled the rest of her doubts. _He wouldn't ever intentionally hurt her, right? Right? He had let professor Xavier read his mind. That had to prove something._

As she was going to launch herself off from the floor, she felt a soft bump against her backside and shot a grim glance over her shoulder, ready to take down any fool who was preying on her there. But there was no other than a few larger metallic drawers that were opening after her impact against them. She felt the coldness flowing out from the long lockers and the first thing entering her mind was those nasty cold chambers where the corpses were kept in the morgue.

As she stood up, she found out that the thought wasn't so very far-fetched. There were indeed corpses inside of those cold lockers but nothing like she had ever seen before. A gasp passed her lips when she took a closer look at the body inside of a frozen container that was the nearest to her. The skin of the corpse was green, all over, his features (as she assumed it was a male) were strong and reptilian and still much humanlike. His ears were long and sharp like an elf's. The long stitched up wound from his chest to abdomen was an obvious autopsy cut. _A humanoid? An alien?_

She looked at the other container and lifted her fingers to her mouth in a shock. There were only half of a corpse, missing right side of the head, arm and rest of the right leg from knee down. It was impossible to tell was it he or she, because what was the left of the torso was badly damaged. But the skin clearly looked blue and the features differed from the other being so much that she believed them to be different species.

The third locker was empty and a small label on the door said, _"Specimen TA-GH 38 moved to TAHITI project"_.

_What the hell did the aliens have anything to do with tropical islands?_

As she looked closer, all the lockers were labeled with that same prefix "Specimen TA-" and followed by a short series of letters and numbers.

_Specimen MF86!_ She recalled that infernal digits for her great dismay. That's what she had been to Hydra. They had referred her as a specimen as if she wouldn't have been a human being at all in their experiments.

The sickening memories flooding into the mind made her legs going week. That and the unexpected findings stunned her so utterly, that for a small moment she forgot where she was and that there was all hell broken loose outside the vault.

The sounds of battle snapped her out of her confusement. She turned around, staring at the large amount of different size lockers and things on the shelves, realizing that inside that huge warehouse department had to be all the evidence of the aliens' visits on earth. The Tesseract was there too, _on the back in a silver casket,_ like Loki had told her. She thought she saw it on a shelf at the far end of the vault, '_the silver casket'_; a metal briefcase.

Wasting no more time with doubting, she ran at the back of the vault and grabbed the briefcase. One thing was sure, she'd rather be hell-bound than let SHIELD expand their freaky collection with two more fresh alien corpses. So, if it was a stupid-ass mistake she was making, at least she did it following her heart.

On the time when she returned on the vault's threshold, she witnessed as agent Romanoff and Loki clashed into a fierce physical duel. The other five agents lied defeated on the floor and Romanoff was the last one of them still standing.

Natasha was delivering vigorous hits and kicks that would have been fatal to a mortal, but it didn't do much to the trickster god as he blocked them effortlessly. She was incapable of hurting him as much as she would have wanted to. Not even her bracelet tasers worked on him properly.

He blocked another hit of hers and grabbed from her wrist. She tried to climb on his neck with a hope to bring him down, using his own weigh against him, but there was no luck. He was a mountain, unshakable, unbeatable. She hadn't faced an opponent like this before. The Asgardian was too damn strong; nothing that she did had any effect on him.

With his supreme strength, he pulled her down like a _bad clinging kitty_ off from him, shoved her face-first against the concrete wall and pinned her there, locking her arms behind her back.

"Whatever happened to worshiping gods in this realm?" Loki rebuked, keeping her immobilized.

Natasha grimaced, feeling a small scrape in her left eyebrow bleeding. "I don't believe in gods!"

Loki clenched his jaw with a baleful look. "Then maybe I can give you something else to believe in for."

Still she did resistance, trying to wriggle out from his grasp, until her body was pressed against the wall so hard she couldn't move any longer. With the air that he was squeezing out from her lunges, escaped a low grunt, which she didn't recognized as her own. His hand clasped her neck from behind, not as much as to hurt but to kill her slowly, by stopping the blood flow to her brain. It was working, her vision blurring and blackening from the edges.

In her diminishing field of vision, she saw the blonde approaching them with a pistol she'd picked up from one of the fallen agents, aiming at her or him. She wasn't sure. The ex-assassin had killed so many people that she hadn't afford to believe in god. But if there was God, then He had to be a dreadful wiseass for sending a guardian angel in a form of Emma Morgan into her rescue.

"Stop it, Loki! Please, stop!" Emma shouted, alarmed, hurrying closer to them, a gun in her right hand and the briefcase in another. "I can't watch you hurting her."

Loki scowled at her. "Then don't watch. These people never know when to quit."

Another sound of crashing from the other side of the warehouse made Emma wince. She stared at Loki and the female agent in his grip. Natasha's face was towards her and it looked like she was going to pass out at any second.

Emma took a step closer to him lowering her gun down. "Please, spare her. Do it for me. Loki, I have to still live on this planet after you'll go home and it would be a hell of easier if I knew we left these people alive." She lifted the briefcase for him to see it with a small sad apologetic smile. "Here. I found it."

Loki glanced at the _'silver casket'_ and then looked into her eyes, seeing all the earlier doubt gone. His harsh expression softened and with a giving up sigh, he eased his grip on Natasha a bit. He kept her against the wall and in his firm grasp, releasing his hand from her neck. He hadn't been planning to kill her, only put her senseless like he had done to the other agents.

Natasha gasped for air, feeling an explosion in her head as the blood flow returned, seeing stars in her slowly returning vision.

He turned back at the woman in his grip, squeezing her wrists and adding the pressure until she groaned. "Emma saved your life. Now, you owe her answers. You tell her what happened to that little man… agent Coulson. Lie and I will snap your neck."

Still slightly winded, Natasha brought her gaze back at Emma. She recalled everything Coulson had told about Ms Morgan and Loki having a connection, and she could understand it now. She saw it in that naively trusting way Emma looked at him, she could tell it by the way Loki relented under her plea. _Was that love?_ _It couldn't be. Love was for children._ In her opinion, Emma Morgan was an idiot for trusting the Trickster and one day I would get her killed.

Loki's crushing grip demanded her answers and she grimaced in pain. The Asgardian didn't even have to put an effort and he could have split her in half, which made her wonder, how the hell had Morgan ever survived sleeping with him.

Natasha took a deep breath, as she finally could. She gave the short official version of Coulson death and added, "Fury had no other choice. He shot Coulson down. Three shots. One went straight through his heart and killed him instantly. There was nothing we could do. And it's all Loki's fault."

"That is a lie!" Loki boomed at the woman, his hand returning on her neck. "You are making this too easy for me."

Emma's hand landed on his wrist to stop him for fulfilling his threat. "I know," she mumbled, exchanging glanced with Loki, processing all the information she had gained. What Fury had told her, the details, didn't add up with Natasha's story. _Someone was lying._

"_Your heart must beat if you're to bleed to death, doesn't it?_" She cast a grim look at Natasha, making her visibly worried. "For a moment there I forgot you people lie for living. If Coulson is dead then there's no reason for me to join you, or to believe you at all, because the rest of you are just a bunch of lying assholes."

Gritting her teeth in Loki's grip, Natasha gave her a pitying grin. "I thought that was your favorite type of people."

_What a bitch! _Emma snorted. "Did you know there's a secret freezer full of alien popsicles over there? I bet you too want to take a closer look, agent Romanoff. And guess what? You were right. _Thank you._ I wouldn't have ever grown my freaking claws without you tossing me against the wall. So, just give me a reason to shove my claws up your ass!" she menaced. _She could be a bitch too!_

**… …**

The new mortal man was tougher than Thor had assumed. They had already redecorated the other end of the warehouse, fighting and shoving each other against the walls and shelves. Whiles the agents had been scurrying for cover and a small group of them had gone after agent Romanoff. And as much as Thor had paid attention, the rest had been assembling a large strange-looking weapon (an ultrasound cannon) near the door.

The thunder god scrambled up from a messy pile of wrecked crates and shelves where Steve Rogers had just tossed him with his fancy shield. A real challenge for a change, Thor admitted wryly to himself, just when he wouldn't have needed one.

Steve Rogers approached him. "Had enough?"

Thor grinned as though he had already won. "Oh, that was just warming up, my friend," he stated and summoned his hammer that flew to him in his command. "Nice shield by the way. Now it's going down."

Seeing the Asgardian striding towards him once again, now with a weapon, Rogers rushed meeting him in the half way and took a defensive stand, unyielding and lifting his shield. At the same time, Thor brought his hammer down, not with his maximum powers but hard nevertheless, smashing it against the vibranium shield.

The clash of the metals thundered violently. The very impact struck like a lightning bolt and the burst of the massive energy released all around them in a shockwave, throwing the agents against the walls and on the hallway, knocking over or bending the long shelves, and turning the crates and objects in the warehouse into fatal projectiles that spread in a heartbeat all around the space. And the whole place became darker, only the emergency exit signs and small shock-resistance lights remain, spotting the otherwise dim huge hall.

The devastating ruin, left by their collision dumbfound both of the heroes. They stood nearly frozen and somewhat feebly, staring around them in shock. Neither had seen that coming, neither had wanted anyone getting hurt and now all the agents lied there senseless and injured.

Thor peered at the other end of the warehouse through the crushed racks, as far as he could see in the darkness, wishing his brother and Emma were all right.

Dismayed, Steve Rogers took a deep breath and shot his finger at his opponent. "You better put that hammer down now, buddy!"

"Oh, you want me to put _my_ hammer down?"

**… …**

When Loki registered the explosion, the pressure wave was already there, bringing the destruction in its wake. The racks and shelves (bolted to the floor) bent and toppled like dominoes in a furious, hellish blast and half of their content was carried within the shockwave that hit without warning. It shook the foundations of the building like an earthquake.

In one moment, he had been escorting the redhead agent towards the vault and looking Emma in the eye as she was carrying the briefcase. The next, he was pulling himself out from under the pile of metal, broken crates and rubbish, his ears momentarily deafened by the blast. It was dark around him, but not completely pitch black, as there was still light coming from the vault, enough to illuminate his surroundings.

With a gasp, he crawled up on his knees and noticed the female agent lying all still on the floor where he had cleared the stuff off. She seemed to be alive but unconscious and bruised. But he didn't stay checking for her condition. He needed to find Emma. He couldn't see her anywhere. The well-organized place with width aisles had suddenly turned into a sea of chaos, dust and paper documents still flying around in the air.

Carefully, he moved through the debris, clearing his path in growing worry, tossing the elements of racks and crates off his way vigorously. He cried out her name once, twice. Then the metal briefcase flew on the floor while he was pulling other things out of his way. He saw it flinging open and the light-blue glowing cube landed on the floor next to it only a few feet away from him. The cube cast cold, pale light like a star on the night sky. Loki stared at it as tough it would have been calling for him, only for four long seconds, until he returned his eyes at the pile and kept digging.

He shuddered as he finally found her foot peeking under the shattered planks of wooden crates and crushed cardboard boxes. He kept removing the objects away, digging her out from under the rubbish, and then gently turned her on her back one hand under her neck, kneeling next to her. In the meager light he saw bruises all over her face, a small cut on her left cheekbone and one on her chin. Her ears were bleeding.

His breathing quivered as he placed a hand over her heart and felt it beating. "Emma, do you hear me? Please, open your eyes, my love. I am here."

He witnessed her superhuman healing factor in action as the cuts in her face healed and the bruises fated. Tenderly, he brushed her golden hair behind her ear, touched her cheek and pulled her into his arms. "Emma, can you hear me?"

She winced whimpering as though she would only waken up from a nightmare, shot her eyes open and started hitting him, screaming. "No! No! Get your fucking hands off me! Don't touch me or I'll..."

Loki snatched her hands in his and hushed her down with soft _'Shushes'_, holding her gently. "Or you will kill me?" he took a guess with a soft voice. "It is all right now. I am with you. "

He broke into a tear-filled smile as she focused her confused eyes at him clutching on to his hand when he freed her hands. He cupped her neck, his thumb caressing her face. "Can you hear me?" he asked and she nodded. "Are you hurt?"

Emma shook her head, perplexed, glancing horrid the state of the place around her in the darkness. It was as if after an explosion. That's what it had felt too, she recalled. "What happened? What was that? Are we still there? What the hell happened?"

He was as much ignorant she was about it, but he assumed Thor must have had an input for that infernal blast. _That damn reckless oaf! He had to do everything with a big boom._

Loki picked her up into his arms and carried on clearer part of the floor. "I don't know, but we must go. Can you walk?" he asked, helping her down on her feet.

As if she wouldn't have been sure, Emma took a few cautious steps. "Yeah, I think so." Her gaze swept over the mounds of debris, searching. She noticed Romanoff and one other agent lying among the stuff and she moved back over the piles crawling closer to the vault.

Loki followed her with his gaze, lifting his hands in disbelief. "What are you doing? This way!"

"The briefcase…" She glanced at him uneasily, throwing things out of her way. "And… and Fury..."

Loki bit his tongue between his lips and checked his surroundings as if to see was anyone seeing this and to get his bearings. "I am sure he will match his name after he sees this desolation. Come now."

She didn't expect the director of SHIELD to turn into a marshmallow for her concern. She just needed to check he was alive and find the damn briefcase she had lost in the blast, and which she didn't see there right behind Loki. She tossed broken pieces of wooden crates aside, uncovering the man with the eye patch. He groaned, still in a light state of sedation, and she moved away with a small relief.

As she turned at Loki, he bent to pick up something from the floor and lifted it up, then studying the strangely glowing and radiating light-blue cube in his palm. That's when she noticed that the metal briefcase laid open at his feet. She watched him speechlessly as he kept staring at the thing fascinated, mesmerized by it to the point of making her feeling jealous of _that overrated fluorescent nightlight_. The intensity of his gaze was as though he'd been planning for making out with that damn thing.

Then he looked at her behind it, his face illuminated with the blue pale glow. The shade nearly matched his Jotun skin color. His gleaming eyes locked with hers. "_The Tesseract_, Emma," he whispered being too distracted to even smile, too compelled with the feeling of power in his grasp. "It is ours."

_Okay. Not at all suspicious behavior. Only thing missing was a maniacal laugh, and she'd been seriously worried for the decision she had made._

The glowing box of destiny didn't impress her, but her animal senses told her to shy away from it as if it would have been radiating hazardously.

Emma tried to share his enthrallment, unsuccessfully. "Nice. It's a nightlight. Loki, is it really worth of all this trouble?"

Holding the Cube and watching at her, he suddenly realized that he had reached the point of choosing his path between the two of them. To keep the Cube, to master its secrets would grant him unlimited possibilities to fulfill the schemes he thought he had already given up. And with it he would be doomed to loose her. With that recognition, a tide wave of emotion rushed through him. He parted his lips to speak but no words came out.

Emma moved closer to him over the rubbish with a bad feeling. "Loki? Is everything all right?"

Her concern of him felt so disarming. He heaved a laborious sigh, overcoming his emotions, and chose his path whether it was the right or wrong but she would always be a part of it. With a subtle smile, he conjured the Cube into a safer place and then offered his hand to her. "Could not be better. Come now, my love. Let us hurry."

She took his hand and it felt warm and comforting, making her wanting to believe him.

**… …**

_Phew, another long chapter again. I'm sorry, it seems I'm incapable of keeping things short and simple. But the moment of truth is near as Loki finally got the Tesseract. Thank you for following and for your reviews. I'm pouring my heart and soul into this Loki fiction. So, your feedback means a lot to me and I'm always happy to know what you think about the events of the story. I hope you're having a beautiful autumn. It's my favorite time of the year._


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